Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. Woman Ticketed After Complaining To RCMP About Student Driver

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 16 Mar, 2018 06:42 PM
  • B.C. Woman Ticketed After Complaining To RCMP About Student Driver
WHISTLER, B.C. — A woman in British Columbia has been fined nearly $500 for traffic violations after she reported another motorist's driving to police.
 
 
Staff Sgt. Paul Hayes says Whistler RCMP received a complaint last July from a woman who said a driving school's vehicle was travelling well below the posted speed limit on Highway 99.
 
 
Officers investigated and found video footage that showed the woman, not the student driver, violating several traffic laws, including using a cellphone to take photos of the other vehicle while she was driving.
 
 
Hayes says the woman was issued two tickets and notes it was likely not the outcome she had anticipated.
 
 
Court records show Joanna Harrington was charged with one count of changing lanes over a solid line and one count of using a mobile device while driving, infractions that come with fines of $109 and $368 respectively.
 
 
Harrington declined comment to The Canadian Press, but in a statement to CBC News she says she was wrong to use her cellphone to document the driving school car, and in overtaking the vehicle before the solid white line ended.
 
 
Harrington was due in court on Monday, but her statement says she missed the appearance because she didn't realize an attempt to postpone the court date had been unsuccessful.
 
 
The statement also says Harrington believes the driving instructor was "more focused on using his student to play games with other drivers than focusing on what he should have been focusing on."
 
 
But driving instructor Todd McGivern said he was simply teaching his student, a woman in her 20s, how to safely respond to tailgating.
 
 
McGivern said it would not have been safe for the student to pull over because shoulders on the stretch of highway between Pemberton and Whistler are narrow and often filled with gravel.
 
 
Instead, he instructed the student to slow down slightly then increase her speed back to the posted limit in an attempt to put safe distance between the vehicles.
 
 
The longer they refused to pull over, the more agitated the other driver became, McGivern said.
 
 
"She's honking her horn, waving her arms around, flashing her lights, using her turn signals, even, to tell us to get off the road," he said.
 
 
The driving school's car was equipped with front and rear cameras, and McGivern later turned video footage of the incident over to police.
 
 
Hayes said the incident is a reminder for all drivers to exercise patience behind the wheel.

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. College Of Midwives Takes Court Action To Ban Use Of Term 'Death Midwife'

The college has filed legal action in B.C. Supreme Court in an attempt to halt Pashta Marymoon and Patricia Keith from calling themselves "death midwives" while providing services to the dying and their families.

B.C. College Of Midwives Takes Court Action To Ban Use Of Term 'Death Midwife'

Thirty-One Instant Millionaires: N.L. Co-Workers Presented With $60M Cheque

Thirty-One Instant Millionaires: N.L. Co-Workers Presented With $60M Cheque
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — More than 30 Newfoundland construction workers became instant millionaires today when the Atlantic Lottery Corp. handed them a cheque worth a whopping $60 million.

Thirty-One Instant Millionaires: N.L. Co-Workers Presented With $60M Cheque

Manitoba NDP Appoints 2 Women To Lead Probe Into Sex Harassment, Misconduct

Manitoba NDP Appoints 2 Women To Lead Probe Into Sex Harassment, Misconduct
The Manitoba NDP has appointed two women as commissioners to investigate reports of sexual harassment and misconduct from staff and elected officials.

Manitoba NDP Appoints 2 Women To Lead Probe Into Sex Harassment, Misconduct

Boys To Men: Calgary Lecture Series Examines Masculinity In #MeToo movement

Boys To Men: Calgary Lecture Series Examines Masculinity In #MeToo movement
CALGARY — A Calgary professor of masculinity studies says the #MeToo movement has created a chance to talk about how boys learn to be men.

Boys To Men: Calgary Lecture Series Examines Masculinity In #MeToo movement

Police In Lower Mainland Issue A Warning About Disturbing Phone Calls To Women

Police In Lower Mainland Issue A Warning About Disturbing Phone Calls To Women
RCMP say a male caller accurately identifies the woman's name and address and claims he has been watching her through cameras allegedly installed inside her home.

Police In Lower Mainland Issue A Warning About Disturbing Phone Calls To Women

Police Department Creates Zone For Safer Online Sales In Abbotsford, B.C.

Sgt. Judy Bird knows first-hand about the "sketchy" feeling that can come with buying or selling items on platforms like Craigslist, Kijiji or Facebook.

Police Department Creates Zone For Safer Online Sales In Abbotsford, B.C.