Count 'em! CanuckAmok's lifetime traffic ticket convictions: 0 for 8! [View All]

Long-time DUers might remember my last brush with the RCMP, in which I was radared doing 100KM/h in an 80KM/h zone. That was three years ago, and before the cop even got out of his cruiser, someone blasted by at about 150, so he took of after them and forgot about me.

Well.... last year, I got a ticket in Victoria for not wearing a seatbelt. For the record, I was wearing it, but that's not the issue.

I was summoned to court today, to plead my ticket. I had planned a big defence and cross-examination (plus the constable who charged me was pretty hot, so I wanted to see her again), but when she and I were called to the Bench, she explained to the Judge that she had never received any paperwork on my ticket, and "didn't even know what the charge is".

Case dismissed.

That got me to thinking. In 20 years of driving, in Canada and overseas, I've had eight tickets for moving infractions. None of them...NONE... have led to a conviction. Why? Usually for some sort of beureaucratic mix-up like today's, or because the Constable didn't show up, or because I was successful in pleading my case (that only happened once).

So whoever the Saint of Careless Drivers is, he's watching over me.

And nothing beats the feeling of a dismissed court case first thing in the morning.

This calls for a celebratory sushi lunch!