Police

The subject of an officer using his or her discretion in the issuance of a traffic ticket is often part of what I receive in an e-mail asking for help. Usually the inquiry is from someone who is preparing for traffic court and feels that in their case the officer should have given them a warning instead of a ticket. Sometimes I agree with them and sometimes I don't.

This is a case of "do as I say, not as I do." A DriveSmartBC newsletter reader reports that they admit to making a conscious decision to disobey a couple of traffic laws the other day. They did not follow the speed limit and failed to keep to the right lane.

Hey, you'll know the answer to this, why are police road closures allowed to be so long when they are investigating a collision? I don't think that a road should ever be closed for more than about an hour.

I've been asked to comment on why intersections are not patrolled as often as highways. The person making that request observed that there is a significant propensity for drivers to run yellow and red lights. It appears to them that intersections pose a much greater and possibly deadlier risk than speeding on a straight stretch of highway.

If a person is not satisfied with the response of the local police to a driving complaint, what is the next step? I know for a fact my wife and I had the offending vehicle, driver's description and B.C. license number correct.

"The officer wasn't even there! How can they issue a ticket to me based only on the word of the other driver?" Police may issue a traffic ticket based on driving complaints from the public, but only after doing a proper investigation of the incident.

What powers do the military police have to enforce traffic laws? Are they able to write traffic tickets to the public like the regular police do?

It seems that the traffic police enforce only three things where I live: speeding, seat belts and alcohol. From my point of view there is effectively no policing of other bad driving habits. Consequently we now have a majority of drivers not using signals to change lanes.

Taking your neighbour's request at face value turned out to be an expensive lesson for Jessica. She had loaned her vehicle to a neighbour and somewhere along the journey the neighbour met up with the police. The neighbour was a vehicle impound candidate because they didn't have a valid driver's license.

In the majority of traffic stops the officer pulls the driver over, receives a valid driver's licence with photo, completes the stop and carries on. The challenge begins when the driver fails to produce their licence or the officer is investigating a driving complaint. Who is the driver?