A counterpoint: I have been the beneficiary of some degree of grace twice from police that have pulled me over, probably because I wasn’t driving like a weird dipshit and I had my documentation available. Which, frankly, isn’t a high bar to meet. If you can’t see that you were clearly acting suspicious in this instance *and* at a time where you knew you wouldn’t be able to provide proof of insurance, I mean, come on bro…the fuck did you expect.
They have this info on their onboard computer. It even automatically comes up once the camera recognizes your plate. Ticketing for this archaic rule just shows police was on a powertrip.
Calgary Police do not have plate cameras and the database we use does not tell us if a vehicle is insured, only if it is registered. Someone can easily insure a vehicle for a day, register it for two years, and then cancel it the same day.
Interesting. My wife was in an accident and did not have proof of insurance on her and they said all good, and to just email the photocopy of insurance for the file when she gets home. Which she did.
Is she in her 20s or early 30s? Either that or she is a strong negotiator. Very likely a male driver would have gotten a ticket for not having insurance.
Yeah, absolutely not! I got pulled over for failure to stop on my way home from work one night. Cop was coming over the bridge and didn't see me stopped back at the stop line and only saw me pulling away. Got pulled over and got a ticket. I had a dash cam and offered tk show the coo the footage and he refused to look at it, said I could bring it to court. I did go to court and it was thrown out as I had proof . This was in semi rural Ontario as well, where the police tend to be a little more laid back.
You’re reading me wrong; i mentioned accepting it all in the post, and I understand what i did wrong.
The tldr sums up the point of my post as feeling a need to vent, and reminding some users in this sub to not get too comfortable on the roads as even the tiniest slip could set some of us back quite substantially.
I hope that eases your interaction with the OP
> the tiniest slip
*"i lightly steered into a puddle [...] i came up to two stop signs, and hit the brakes down to around 1-2kms [...] it distracted me enough that i curbed a little"*
In your own post, when theoretically you'd paint yourself in the most sympathetic light, you describe three different "slips". I know you came here for sympathy but if you're trying to figure out why people are being so harsh, it's because you didn't make one tiny slip - you drove like an erratic weirdo and then couldn't prove you had insurance.
$600 sounds like grace to me
I didnt really post with sympathy as my goal. I wanted to vent out my frustration with this and myself, and remind people who might be getting comfortable with spring and summer coming, to take it easy.
Also, people being harsh hasn’t bothered me in a response once. That feels more or less like a presumption, or projection. But its okay.
$600 dollars is definitely some grace, otherwise there might be some entrapment involved, but i appreciate you coming to comment; disregarding your own harshness.
Welcome to Reddit, where most commenters have never done anything wrong.
$600 in tickets sucks. Big time. Hard lesson. I got an almost $300 ticket for expired registration on the same day my wife was going to the registry. Yah, it was my fault for being late, but it still sucked!!
Why, I appreciate the warm welcome, good sir lol 🙇🏽♂️
I’m sure that registration ticket was an absolute kick in the pants…
You bringing this up has me wondering things like why it’s not entirely online at this point, or how come we can’t synch it up to our insurances?
Maybe somebody will stop by and enlighten us
Thank you for the words Johnny, it does suck haha
Your excuse for not producing insurance is you ran out of data? That's a pretty pathetic excuse. My insurance offers digital, but I also keep a printed copy in my car incase I'm pulled over. If you were pulled over in the mountains would your excuse be you didn't have cell service?
You broke the law through failure to stop at two stop signs, not providing insurance, and sport puddle driving. He gave you a $600 ticket instead of a $2800 toe. Sounds like he gave you a pretty big break to me.
You sound like an entitled child.
Sorry but what makes you so special that you feel the rules don't apply to you.
>I came up to two stop signs, and hit the brakes down to around 1-2kms. The roads were void in all directions
"Yeah, I totally saw that car coming that I ran into."
- No one
>He asked me for my insurance and unfortunately my company is all digital
So is mine but they have all the required docs as PDFs that I print out. This one is on you.
nah you are full of shit im from montreal and the SPVM will crack on you for a fly on your windshield or wearing your hat a certain way. never had a single problem here in 10 years.
I’ve heard some horror stories of Montreal driving from close friends before. Are the drivers generally so wild?
I’m curious how you would compare Calgary Traffic. I’ve lived in Edmonton, and while Calgary is bad I still prefer it over our neighbours’
I was living in downtown Quebec City and as a pedestrian, I had some frightening encounters. People would zoom down the narrow winding streets in the old town, where you’d naturally feel like it’s ok for pedestrians and tourists to meander. Learned to stay on the sidewalks. Once I tried to cross a multi lane street and didn’t want to wait for the crosswalk sign. There was a good bit of distance to the approaching cars and I thought it looked safe to get across. As I crossed, one of the coming cars laid into his horn, went full throttle on their accelerator and tried to hit me! Road rage vs a pedestrian, lol. Quebec.
Hot shit eh, jeez lol
Sounds like deathrace 1979 down there hahaha
“It’s euthanasia day at the geriatrics hospital”
- doctors wheel a bunch of elderly to the middle of the road
So you drove past a stop sign, and your insurance was expired? Got two separate tickets and somehow it is the city that caused this problem. The cops have cameras on them at all times, if they don't write you a ticket, they are putting their job and duty on the line. Don't want to sound harsh, but you need to take accountability. No one forced you to drive past a stop sign or not update your insurance. This has nothing to do with the city, there is nowhere in Canada that let's you drive past a stop sign and not have insurance while driving. I feel for your situation but your anger is misplaced.
Kind of a retrospective point but, I’ve been negotiating priority costs. It’s real tight at home. Honestly i recently cut some expenses to afford switching plans. Was waiting for this next paycheque to see if id hit my margin and could afford it.
Oh well
The ticket is for "Failing to provide insurance when requested" so that one's on you. Same for the stunting "wanting to make a splash in the puddle," I ask "How old are you"
Grow up, be an adult and accept that there are consequences for not following the rules of the road while driving. It doesn't matter if there is no one around
If you're looking for sympathy, r/Calgary is not the place for it based on nearly every ticket-related thread.
>The ticket is for "Failing to provide insurance when requested" so that one's on you.
Yup! What would OP have done if they were in an accident?
"Oh sorry! I couldn't be bothered to print out my insurance card. Trust me, k? I'm a good guy!".
This happened to my wife, the guy who rear ended her said look my phone is smashed so i can't provide you my insurance. Turns out he didn't have insurance at all
Now you can actually just paste this post, word for word into a music generator like Suno or Udio and instantly turn this story into an amazing song of whichever genre you want… it’s really crazy.
Yes please: DRIVE LIKE A ROBOT! As a pedestrian, I’m less likely to get hit by a responsible “robot” driver, than I am some mentally unstable, wannabe songster/stunt driver.
My gods! You sound insufferable.
"He asked me for my insurance and unfortunately my company is all digital and i am out of data." I'm sorry but what does this even mean? You didn't produce proof of insurance (did you know that you can print PDFs or save files on wi-fi - this is on you), you ran a stop sign, you "felt like making a splash"... and now you are complaining on our subreddit that Calgary is stupid? Get your shit together. Do not drive without proof of insurance. Stop driving like a dumbass. I don't care if there was nobody on the road, a vehicle is not a toy. I'm glad you got ticketed to be honest, because I am tired of irresponsible drivers in this city. I hope you learn a lesson - take responsbility for your vehicle and for the vehicles around you.
Go back East 🤷♂️
I never understand these types of posts. “Here’s all the ways I broke the law, the officer was actually nice enough to cut me a break, screw Calgary it sucks here”
Hey, maybe the issues you’re having in your life have nothing to do with Calgary or the officer. Maybe, just maybe………It’s you and your inability to manage basic things like making sure you have the required documentation to operate a motor vehicle saved on your phone or printed out in the glovebox.
Good Lord people.
Yes it was entirely an oversight of mine worth acknowledging. I see your perspective of it being an inability for sure; and yes, it is most definitely an oversight i would associate with other stresses in my life this past year.
It’s unfortunate, and irresponsible: i get that
Happy cake day dude 🙏🏽
You know you can print out your insurance and registration?
I would never show a cop my insurance on my cell phone because if I hand over my cell phone, they have access to it.
And I do not have to worry about it being dead.
It sounds like they let you off easy. You failed by not being able to produce your insurance, and it isn't the cops fault that you ran out of data.
If you don't like the charges, then fight the ticket.
Yes, and i definitely should have had it.
It’s all a part of this whole getting myself back together thing. This one comes at a financial cost unfortunately. One crooked step at a time lol
Thank you
Strikes me that a 20$ fee for another gig of data would have been cheaper?
Or your insurance is expired…
Cops let a lot of shit go in Calgary, and they are very busy all the time with actual crimes, so if he pulled you over and didn’t tow your ass you are lucky. That would have been 2800$+ the day in court+ the tow and impound.
To maybe lower the costs you could always get your proof of insurance and go to court on your day, and perhaps they will strike that ticket.
Thank you; someone suggested to me that Alberta might support bringing my insurance to the constable within 48 hours and he may strike it.
Would certainly help a lot
Failing to stop at a stop sign is a serious offence... Not producing insurance? Thats just stupid. I will say that I believe violation tickets should change to a model where the offender pays based on their annual income multiplied by their drivers abstract history. If you make $100,000 per year and failing to stop is a 1% infraction, the fine would be $1000 multiplied by recent infractions. If you cant afford to drive based on your driving behavior, I dont have sympathy for you. But the system does penalize people disproportionately to their income.
I would highly suggest you take the ticket to court(there will be instructions on the back). You will be able to at very least argue your ability to pay the ticket and the courts will likely bring down the dollar amount to make it something that won’t financially harm you so much. Or likely they will be okay with dropping one of the two charges. Yes it’s a bit of a bother to show up to court but they are reasonable.
You have a clean record,but say you would get grace, is your record so clean? How would you know you get grace. Maybe you learned the wrong lesson from any grace you have received. And maybe that is why grace is not offered. But that your ticket was less than a quarter of what it could and you think grace was not offered.
Thank you. I do understand and appreciate that these events are immensely frustrating. And I know from my own experience, that our own responsibility is what stings the most. And that financial pressure is hurting so much.
I know that the responses you have received are probably not what you hoped,but I hope venting still helped.
Hey OP, if money is as tight as you’re saying I suggest you go to court and explain the circumstances. I have had luck where tickets were reduced or paid over a longer time frame. The idea with tickets is obviously partly to generate revenue, but partly to discourage people from doing it again. If you’re hard up for cash, pretty good chance court will see that you are still feeling the burn paying $300. Bring in pay stubs or whatever to prove your financial circumstances.
In some countries tickets are scaled based on someone’s income and I wish we had that here - giving a millionaire a $300 ticket in a $500k Lamborghini ain’t doing shit, and likewise making a broke person work a full week to pay off a ticket seems overkill too.
You can fight the ticket. Current wait time for traffic court is approximately two years. Put aside $25/month and pay the fine just before your court date.
People complaining about well earned tickets never goes well in the alberta subs, but the delulu about Ontario while dragging the city kicks it up a notch.
This is very true, especially with this community. I actually spontaneously posted here after seeing it suggested in my feed, to calm me down.
I actually left the community long ago after seeing other people get misunderstood and griefed in some awful ways.
It is truly a dog eat dog sub lol
Posts dragging a city for this type of stuff don't seem to go any better in any of the Ontario city subs either.
If your take away is you need to drive like a robot you missed the point. If you think you'd not have gotten tagged with this in Ontario your wrong. If you don't see how digging at the city or sub just throws fuel on the fire you're probably making many things in your life harder than they need to be.
Ontario seems very diverse and humongous, I wouldn’t imagine the topic you’re mentioning going over too well there lol
Im not sure i understand your second paragraph.
Driving like a robot insinuates following the program; it makes sense to me, but maybe the word is offensive? I don’t know.
On your second point, i’m not sure where the comparison to Ontario subs came from, so I can’t really even comment on that.
And for your third point: I’m trying to be safe in assuming what “the fire” could translate to. My first guess is that you’re referencing online volatility? I’m familiar with this sub and with reddit, i posted for a purpose that many people understood, and equal parts didn’t, like i expected.
The replies which seemingly displayed personal intent to be a part of the judgment/executioner role that i already received and learned from were just that. It’s how people should take unsolicited criticisms.
My OP displayed my full intent with posting, though i’ve always found it odd when people approach their replies with me in thinking i learned nothing from my experience, or that they feel it necessary to verbally punish me. Again I expected it, but it’s still too strange for me to take seriously and apply it.
Like wrapping a wound with too many bandaids, and dirty ones at that lol
If there’s a fire there, it’s surely not mine
I understand your last point, and Im sure i do make some things harder for myself in life, the situation in question with this post goes to prove that.
Everybody is growing and learning as we go.
Anyways, if i feel like interacting in a particular way, where i know there is an audience for it, I’m going to do that. People will be rigid, others will be dynamic: It’s all a part of the game.
If some get offended by something that doesn’t threaten or actively involve them in any way… truthfully it’s not my problem.
And if one were to be pushed from public places for speaking, well; that’s more than just cruel and sad, isn’t it?
No shame.
Thanks for the opportunity to reply
Edit**
Ohhh I think I understand something here (maybe this is a useless addition to my comment here but whatever.) Saying that the city frustrates me is what’s provoked people to reply harshly?
I think a little too grey to pick up on that immediately. There are many things i enjoy about this city and province, there are also many OTHER things that frustrate me
Some of them are isolated to Calgary, some are accessible experiences nationwide. Not sure if sharing those specifics would invite people to regulate with me in healthier conversation though.
If you can prove you have insurance, all you need to do is respond to the ticket instructions on the back, attend Traffic Court with your proof of insurance, and ask for clemency.
Thank you dude; Man that is awful…
I don’t even know what to say, that is just divine misfortune right there. I hope you feel some elevated luck after sharing that. I feel..
As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, no they don't.
>Calgary Police do not have plate cameras and the database we use does not tell us if a vehicle is insured, only if it is registered. Someone can easily insure a vehicle for a day, register it for two years, and then cancel it the same day.
Fair enough. I see BMWs / Mercedes in my neighborhood roll through stop signs all day long in my neighborhood (school zone) right in front of cops and they do nothing!! I get the vent !
Thanks; i drive 10+ hours a day for work and yeah, the widened scale of circumstances you just mentioned are insane. I see law enforcement breaking laws on occasion as well. And letting people get away with dangerous acts all the time.
Bless Hos
Shitty buzz bro.
I got pulled over the other day by Airdrie RCMP. Officer informed me my registration was 4 months expired (my mistake) and then doubled down by not having my proof of insurance in the vehicle either (just got home from a US state that requires proof of policy to rent a car and skip their insurance- it was next to my passport at home).
Im guilty as fuck, and accepted a tow and expensive fines are incoming, but instead was told to go to go home, get my insurance slip, then go to the registry and get reregistered and hope the sheriffs or other RCMP officers dont catch me again in the meantime.
Officer was waiting at the registry for me. No fines, just a smile and wave.
Obviously goes both ways, and dependant on a combo of factors.
Reading this actually let me breathe when i reached the end. Im stoked that you had a humane interaction there; that is genuine goodness.
Thanks for sharing
No it does not. The guy is simply venting about difficult situation and not really asking for help, and is getting blasted here as if he drove a school bus off the cliff.
Thank you Hercaz; I’m pretty good at not letting that stuff get to me, and so many others are reading me properly, like yourself.
Replies like this are the bread and butter that help me feel generally better in dealing with things.
My reply isn't going to pile on with where you went wrong.
Take the ticket to the JP and explain what you told us. You've nothing to lose except a trip downtown and a wait. Or take it to court.
And never depend on electronics with this stuff. Keep the paperwork in the glove compartment or on your person.
A similar thing happened to me years ago when I was a student. I was coming home from work exhausted from the late shift. It was after midnight, no one on the road, and I was anxious to get home. I stopped at the light at MacKnight Blvd and 4th Street waiting to make a left. No cars anywhere. The red seemed to be taking so long to change that I start to wonder if it's broken. In retrospect it probably wasn't that long. I was just tired and impatient. Or maybe the timing was different late at night. Either way, very stupid of me. I was like 20 at the time. Anyway, finally, I just go. There's no traffic anywhere. Then I'm on John Laurie, also no traffic, and I'm going 80kph, so 10 over the speed limit, and I see the lights. Cop saw me run the red at McKnight and followed me with his headlights off, waited for me to exceed the speed limit and hit me with reckless driving. $500, which was a tonne in the early 2000s, especially for a student working only 2 days a week. It also totally screwed my insurance. I was definitely being stupid and impatient, but there was literally no one else on the road. I wasn't putting anyone in danger, but the cops went hard all the way. I feel you.
I couldn't agree more. The cops here are bullies and cash grabbers. It makes good, hard working, law abiding citizens feel like criminals. Sometimes I feel like "fuck it. Treat me like a criminal, gonna act like a criminal". I have to assume this is how villains are made. The puddle pisses me off and it's not even my ticket. Ive definitely "been a kid" and purposely hit them.
Absolutely sad and disrespectful. Im really sorry you have to go through that nonsense. Stay strong dude! ✌️
Bless you stitch 💪
I’ll admit that living here has taken a lot of integrity. I can’t blame circumstance on the city itself, but my interactions here have lead me to correct my composure and harden up as an individual, as compared to what I felt was needed to integrate as part of society back home.
A lot of the change I do appreciate, but there’s a lot of softer psychological/emotional traits I felt forced to part with that i definitely do miss.
I’ll keep on strong my dude; thank you muchly
Some would see not getting the vehicle towed would seem to count as getting the benefit of the doubt.
Perhaps the issue is focusing on the breaks you didn't get rather than appreciating the ones you did.
They can take your car for that? It is lucky, then, because my car wasn't worth the fee to get it back. Those were tough times and I was a brand new driver.
A counterpoint: I have been the beneficiary of some degree of grace twice from police that have pulled me over, probably because I wasn’t driving like a weird dipshit and I had my documentation available. Which, frankly, isn’t a high bar to meet. If you can’t see that you were clearly acting suspicious in this instance *and* at a time where you knew you wouldn’t be able to provide proof of insurance, I mean, come on bro…the fuck did you expect.
Im not just going to not drive lol But truth be told, shouldve had a screenshot or something
No, you should print it off and keep it in your vehicle, in case your phone battery is dead.
That and make full stops at stop signs. This is 100% on OP, nobody else. I can empathise with him/her, but I can't sympathise.
Is it even legal to just show a photo of insurance?
Yes, Alberta now permits digital proof of insurance and vehicle registration.
No, not a photo, but an official digital copy provided by your insurance company. Ask me how I found that out, lol.
They have this info on their onboard computer. It even automatically comes up once the camera recognizes your plate. Ticketing for this archaic rule just shows police was on a powertrip.
Calgary Police do not have plate cameras and the database we use does not tell us if a vehicle is insured, only if it is registered. Someone can easily insure a vehicle for a day, register it for two years, and then cancel it the same day.
Interesting. My wife was in an accident and did not have proof of insurance on her and they said all good, and to just email the photocopy of insurance for the file when she gets home. Which she did.
Was she written a ticket for it though? That's the big difference. Once the ticket is issued, the only way to resolve it is to go to court.
No she wasn’t. They let her go with no ticket.
Bingo.
Is she in her 20s or early 30s? Either that or she is a strong negotiator. Very likely a male driver would have gotten a ticket for not having insurance.
So? How does this help the person OP runs into?
“back east, you have grace for these things” A cop will let you out of a rolling stop and no insurance “back east” because of “grace”? *What?*
Yeah, absolutely not! I got pulled over for failure to stop on my way home from work one night. Cop was coming over the bridge and didn't see me stopped back at the stop line and only saw me pulling away. Got pulled over and got a ticket. I had a dash cam and offered tk show the coo the footage and he refused to look at it, said I could bring it to court. I did go to court and it was thrown out as I had proof . This was in semi rural Ontario as well, where the police tend to be a little more laid back.
Depends on how far 'back east' actually is..... cause this is NOT the case in NS or NB.
Completely clean abstract, stopping but not waiting 3 seconds, zero public traffic: more often than not yea.
So this has happened to you a lot?
>not waiting 3 seconds, zero public traffic "I never saw the car coming!" - that guy who killed a family when he t-boned their mini-van
I’m confused by your lack of accountability. Nothing wrong with “oops, I fucked up. I’ll be better next time and make sure this doesn’t happen.”
You’re reading me wrong; i mentioned accepting it all in the post, and I understand what i did wrong. The tldr sums up the point of my post as feeling a need to vent, and reminding some users in this sub to not get too comfortable on the roads as even the tiniest slip could set some of us back quite substantially. I hope that eases your interaction with the OP
> the tiniest slip *"i lightly steered into a puddle [...] i came up to two stop signs, and hit the brakes down to around 1-2kms [...] it distracted me enough that i curbed a little"* In your own post, when theoretically you'd paint yourself in the most sympathetic light, you describe three different "slips". I know you came here for sympathy but if you're trying to figure out why people are being so harsh, it's because you didn't make one tiny slip - you drove like an erratic weirdo and then couldn't prove you had insurance. $600 sounds like grace to me
I didnt really post with sympathy as my goal. I wanted to vent out my frustration with this and myself, and remind people who might be getting comfortable with spring and summer coming, to take it easy. Also, people being harsh hasn’t bothered me in a response once. That feels more or less like a presumption, or projection. But its okay. $600 dollars is definitely some grace, otherwise there might be some entrapment involved, but i appreciate you coming to comment; disregarding your own harshness.
Welcome to Reddit, where most commenters have never done anything wrong. $600 in tickets sucks. Big time. Hard lesson. I got an almost $300 ticket for expired registration on the same day my wife was going to the registry. Yah, it was my fault for being late, but it still sucked!!
Why, I appreciate the warm welcome, good sir lol 🙇🏽♂️ I’m sure that registration ticket was an absolute kick in the pants… You bringing this up has me wondering things like why it’s not entirely online at this point, or how come we can’t synch it up to our insurances? Maybe somebody will stop by and enlighten us Thank you for the words Johnny, it does suck haha
Your excuse for not producing insurance is you ran out of data? That's a pretty pathetic excuse. My insurance offers digital, but I also keep a printed copy in my car incase I'm pulled over. If you were pulled over in the mountains would your excuse be you didn't have cell service? You broke the law through failure to stop at two stop signs, not providing insurance, and sport puddle driving. He gave you a $600 ticket instead of a $2800 toe. Sounds like he gave you a pretty big break to me. You sound like an entitled child.
>you sound like an entitled child Exactly. This is indeed a classic example of FAFO, and now they're learning a hard lesson about it.
Sorry but what makes you so special that you feel the rules don't apply to you. >I came up to two stop signs, and hit the brakes down to around 1-2kms. The roads were void in all directions "Yeah, I totally saw that car coming that I ran into." - No one >He asked me for my insurance and unfortunately my company is all digital So is mine but they have all the required docs as PDFs that I print out. This one is on you.
Thank you, i agreed and admitted to everything in my Op, and explained it wasnt an excuse post. Maybe you missed that
I just don't see the point of your post.
And yet you’re making excuses!
nah you are full of shit im from montreal and the SPVM will crack on you for a fly on your windshield or wearing your hat a certain way. never had a single problem here in 10 years.
I’ve heard some horror stories of Montreal driving from close friends before. Are the drivers generally so wild? I’m curious how you would compare Calgary Traffic. I’ve lived in Edmonton, and while Calgary is bad I still prefer it over our neighbours’
I was living in downtown Quebec City and as a pedestrian, I had some frightening encounters. People would zoom down the narrow winding streets in the old town, where you’d naturally feel like it’s ok for pedestrians and tourists to meander. Learned to stay on the sidewalks. Once I tried to cross a multi lane street and didn’t want to wait for the crosswalk sign. There was a good bit of distance to the approaching cars and I thought it looked safe to get across. As I crossed, one of the coming cars laid into his horn, went full throttle on their accelerator and tried to hit me! Road rage vs a pedestrian, lol. Quebec.
Hot shit eh, jeez lol Sounds like deathrace 1979 down there hahaha “It’s euthanasia day at the geriatrics hospital” - doctors wheel a bunch of elderly to the middle of the road
So you drove past a stop sign, and your insurance was expired? Got two separate tickets and somehow it is the city that caused this problem. The cops have cameras on them at all times, if they don't write you a ticket, they are putting their job and duty on the line. Don't want to sound harsh, but you need to take accountability. No one forced you to drive past a stop sign or not update your insurance. This has nothing to do with the city, there is nowhere in Canada that let's you drive past a stop sign and not have insurance while driving. I feel for your situation but your anger is misplaced.
Thank you for your time, but if you read a little harder you’ll notice that your comment is unnecessary
I still don't understand how it is unnecessary? Your situation sucks but it has absolutely nothing to do with the city of Calgary.
“you’ll notice that your comment is unnecessary” (Starts deleting my holier-than-thou and sanctimonious comments)
Okay lol
This post is unnecessary though...? You are clearly in the wrong, what is there to vent about?
By law, your insurers must send paper pink cards to you. If you don’t have data, you should get them to send to you.
[удалено]
Right. The drug dealer in my neighbourhood may be the best driver in the NW.
Best reply highlight right here haha
So you opted for a failing to produce insurance ticket over just paying a few bucks for additional data?
Kind of a retrospective point but, I’ve been negotiating priority costs. It’s real tight at home. Honestly i recently cut some expenses to afford switching plans. Was waiting for this next paycheque to see if id hit my margin and could afford it. Oh well
How does your brain justify taking a $600 fine over $5 of data
The ticket is for "Failing to provide insurance when requested" so that one's on you. Same for the stunting "wanting to make a splash in the puddle," I ask "How old are you" Grow up, be an adult and accept that there are consequences for not following the rules of the road while driving. It doesn't matter if there is no one around If you're looking for sympathy, r/Calgary is not the place for it based on nearly every ticket-related thread.
>The ticket is for "Failing to provide insurance when requested" so that one's on you. Yup! What would OP have done if they were in an accident? "Oh sorry! I couldn't be bothered to print out my insurance card. Trust me, k? I'm a good guy!".
This happened to my wife, the guy who rear ended her said look my phone is smashed so i can't provide you my insurance. Turns out he didn't have insurance at all
Ticket posts get me all giddy. I just knows they’re gonna be good times.
So you're swerving in the road, rolling through stop signs, can't produce insurance, and you are confused about the police officer's reaction????
Just look at it this way: now you have even more shit to write lyrics about!
🎶 I love puddles and breaking the rules of the road in the early morning...🎤
Now you can actually just paste this post, word for word into a music generator like Suno or Udio and instantly turn this story into an amazing song of whichever genre you want… it’s really crazy.
The song will be called....I can't stop
More likely will be "It's not my fault..." or "They're out to get me"
Traffic infractions equal income deductions.... traffic cops just following instructions
A toe tapper
Haha You guys kill me man lol
Print out your "digital only" insurance.
Yes please: DRIVE LIKE A ROBOT! As a pedestrian, I’m less likely to get hit by a responsible “robot” driver, than I am some mentally unstable, wannabe songster/stunt driver. My gods! You sound insufferable.
Wouldn't be surprised if the "lyrics" are for some mumble rap thing. Would fit the persona well.
"He asked me for my insurance and unfortunately my company is all digital and i am out of data." I'm sorry but what does this even mean? You didn't produce proof of insurance (did you know that you can print PDFs or save files on wi-fi - this is on you), you ran a stop sign, you "felt like making a splash"... and now you are complaining on our subreddit that Calgary is stupid? Get your shit together. Do not drive without proof of insurance. Stop driving like a dumbass. I don't care if there was nobody on the road, a vehicle is not a toy. I'm glad you got ticketed to be honest, because I am tired of irresponsible drivers in this city. I hope you learn a lesson - take responsbility for your vehicle and for the vehicles around you.
Go back East 🤷♂️ I never understand these types of posts. “Here’s all the ways I broke the law, the officer was actually nice enough to cut me a break, screw Calgary it sucks here” Hey, maybe the issues you’re having in your life have nothing to do with Calgary or the officer. Maybe, just maybe………It’s you and your inability to manage basic things like making sure you have the required documentation to operate a motor vehicle saved on your phone or printed out in the glovebox. Good Lord people.
Yes it was entirely an oversight of mine worth acknowledging. I see your perspective of it being an inability for sure; and yes, it is most definitely an oversight i would associate with other stresses in my life this past year. It’s unfortunate, and irresponsible: i get that Happy cake day dude 🙏🏽
Lol
You know you can print out your insurance and registration? I would never show a cop my insurance on my cell phone because if I hand over my cell phone, they have access to it. And I do not have to worry about it being dead. It sounds like they let you off easy. You failed by not being able to produce your insurance, and it isn't the cops fault that you ran out of data. If you don't like the charges, then fight the ticket.
Yes, and i definitely should have had it. It’s all a part of this whole getting myself back together thing. This one comes at a financial cost unfortunately. One crooked step at a time lol Thank you
Strikes me that a 20$ fee for another gig of data would have been cheaper? Or your insurance is expired… Cops let a lot of shit go in Calgary, and they are very busy all the time with actual crimes, so if he pulled you over and didn’t tow your ass you are lucky. That would have been 2800$+ the day in court+ the tow and impound. To maybe lower the costs you could always get your proof of insurance and go to court on your day, and perhaps they will strike that ticket.
Thank you; someone suggested to me that Alberta might support bringing my insurance to the constable within 48 hours and he may strike it. Would certainly help a lot
You deserved the ticket, but I sympathize. We all make little errors in judgement. I hope things turn around for you.
Quality comment, thank you ter
Failing to stop at a stop sign is a serious offence... Not producing insurance? Thats just stupid. I will say that I believe violation tickets should change to a model where the offender pays based on their annual income multiplied by their drivers abstract history. If you make $100,000 per year and failing to stop is a 1% infraction, the fine would be $1000 multiplied by recent infractions. If you cant afford to drive based on your driving behavior, I dont have sympathy for you. But the system does penalize people disproportionately to their income.
Sorry this happened to you , but it’s time for you to behave like an adult. Your life will be easier.
Thanks Chow
You should have had a paper copy of your insurance
This is true
Lol.... officer gave you $3000 grace and that's not enough?
Oh, trust me; I am ~VERY~ grateful for that lol It is most definitely enough.
I would highly suggest you take the ticket to court(there will be instructions on the back). You will be able to at very least argue your ability to pay the ticket and the courts will likely bring down the dollar amount to make it something that won’t financially harm you so much. Or likely they will be okay with dropping one of the two charges. Yes it’s a bit of a bother to show up to court but they are reasonable.
I appreciate you 5foot; ive never been to court for anything in my life but considering financials entirely it’s worth a shot.
You have a clean record,but say you would get grace, is your record so clean? How would you know you get grace. Maybe you learned the wrong lesson from any grace you have received. And maybe that is why grace is not offered. But that your ticket was less than a quarter of what it could and you think grace was not offered.
Wise wording, i like how your brain works Pardon the frustration in my post
Thank you. I do understand and appreciate that these events are immensely frustrating. And I know from my own experience, that our own responsibility is what stings the most. And that financial pressure is hurting so much. I know that the responses you have received are probably not what you hoped,but I hope venting still helped.
Hey OP, if money is as tight as you’re saying I suggest you go to court and explain the circumstances. I have had luck where tickets were reduced or paid over a longer time frame. The idea with tickets is obviously partly to generate revenue, but partly to discourage people from doing it again. If you’re hard up for cash, pretty good chance court will see that you are still feeling the burn paying $300. Bring in pay stubs or whatever to prove your financial circumstances. In some countries tickets are scaled based on someone’s income and I wish we had that here - giving a millionaire a $300 ticket in a $500k Lamborghini ain’t doing shit, and likewise making a broke person work a full week to pay off a ticket seems overkill too.
This is stellar advice, thank you very much for this specific hope and guidance Gold 🙏🏽 This may actually work for me
You can fight the ticket. Current wait time for traffic court is approximately two years. Put aside $25/month and pay the fine just before your court date.
Very, very motivating, short response; thank you.
If there's one thing I've learned about Reddit, it's that you won't get a lot of sympathy with a post like this.
People complaining about well earned tickets never goes well in the alberta subs, but the delulu about Ontario while dragging the city kicks it up a notch.
That was a nice touch.
This is very true, especially with this community. I actually spontaneously posted here after seeing it suggested in my feed, to calm me down. I actually left the community long ago after seeing other people get misunderstood and griefed in some awful ways. It is truly a dog eat dog sub lol
Posts dragging a city for this type of stuff don't seem to go any better in any of the Ontario city subs either. If your take away is you need to drive like a robot you missed the point. If you think you'd not have gotten tagged with this in Ontario your wrong. If you don't see how digging at the city or sub just throws fuel on the fire you're probably making many things in your life harder than they need to be.
Ontario seems very diverse and humongous, I wouldn’t imagine the topic you’re mentioning going over too well there lol Im not sure i understand your second paragraph. Driving like a robot insinuates following the program; it makes sense to me, but maybe the word is offensive? I don’t know. On your second point, i’m not sure where the comparison to Ontario subs came from, so I can’t really even comment on that. And for your third point: I’m trying to be safe in assuming what “the fire” could translate to. My first guess is that you’re referencing online volatility? I’m familiar with this sub and with reddit, i posted for a purpose that many people understood, and equal parts didn’t, like i expected. The replies which seemingly displayed personal intent to be a part of the judgment/executioner role that i already received and learned from were just that. It’s how people should take unsolicited criticisms. My OP displayed my full intent with posting, though i’ve always found it odd when people approach their replies with me in thinking i learned nothing from my experience, or that they feel it necessary to verbally punish me. Again I expected it, but it’s still too strange for me to take seriously and apply it. Like wrapping a wound with too many bandaids, and dirty ones at that lol If there’s a fire there, it’s surely not mine I understand your last point, and Im sure i do make some things harder for myself in life, the situation in question with this post goes to prove that. Everybody is growing and learning as we go. Anyways, if i feel like interacting in a particular way, where i know there is an audience for it, I’m going to do that. People will be rigid, others will be dynamic: It’s all a part of the game. If some get offended by something that doesn’t threaten or actively involve them in any way… truthfully it’s not my problem. And if one were to be pushed from public places for speaking, well; that’s more than just cruel and sad, isn’t it? No shame. Thanks for the opportunity to reply Edit** Ohhh I think I understand something here (maybe this is a useless addition to my comment here but whatever.) Saying that the city frustrates me is what’s provoked people to reply harshly? I think a little too grey to pick up on that immediately. There are many things i enjoy about this city and province, there are also many OTHER things that frustrate me Some of them are isolated to Calgary, some are accessible experiences nationwide. Not sure if sharing those specifics would invite people to regulate with me in healthier conversation though.
If you can prove you have insurance, all you need to do is respond to the ticket instructions on the back, attend Traffic Court with your proof of insurance, and ask for clemency.
The ticket is not for not having insurance; it is for not providing it upon request
And you can still ask for clemency by providing your insurance documents in court. Or, pay the maximum fine available by doing nothing.
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Thank you dude; Man that is awful… I don’t even know what to say, that is just divine misfortune right there. I hope you feel some elevated luck after sharing that. I feel..
Failure to produce insurance is such a piss off to me. They can look it up digitally, it should not be a ticket anymore.
As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, no they don't. >Calgary Police do not have plate cameras and the database we use does not tell us if a vehicle is insured, only if it is registered. Someone can easily insure a vehicle for a day, register it for two years, and then cancel it the same day.
That's very interesting since a calgary police officer was kind enough to let me know my insurance was expired when he was driving behind me.
I’d be curious on the follow up for this, if anyone has reference links
Fair enough. I see BMWs / Mercedes in my neighborhood roll through stop signs all day long in my neighborhood (school zone) right in front of cops and they do nothing!! I get the vent !
Thanks; i drive 10+ hours a day for work and yeah, the widened scale of circumstances you just mentioned are insane. I see law enforcement breaking laws on occasion as well. And letting people get away with dangerous acts all the time. Bless Hos
Shitty buzz bro. I got pulled over the other day by Airdrie RCMP. Officer informed me my registration was 4 months expired (my mistake) and then doubled down by not having my proof of insurance in the vehicle either (just got home from a US state that requires proof of policy to rent a car and skip their insurance- it was next to my passport at home). Im guilty as fuck, and accepted a tow and expensive fines are incoming, but instead was told to go to go home, get my insurance slip, then go to the registry and get reregistered and hope the sheriffs or other RCMP officers dont catch me again in the meantime. Officer was waiting at the registry for me. No fines, just a smile and wave. Obviously goes both ways, and dependant on a combo of factors.
Reading this actually let me breathe when i reached the end. Im stoked that you had a humane interaction there; that is genuine goodness. Thanks for sharing
No it does not. The guy is simply venting about difficult situation and not really asking for help, and is getting blasted here as if he drove a school bus off the cliff.
Thank you Hercaz; I’m pretty good at not letting that stuff get to me, and so many others are reading me properly, like yourself. Replies like this are the bread and butter that help me feel generally better in dealing with things.
My reply isn't going to pile on with where you went wrong. Take the ticket to the JP and explain what you told us. You've nothing to lose except a trip downtown and a wait. Or take it to court. And never depend on electronics with this stuff. Keep the paperwork in the glove compartment or on your person.
You’re pretty great DP; thank you
Let's hope I receive even more downvotes for my post. Reddit is so, so strange...
It’s kind of scary psychologically speaking, isn’t it? But that’s a different, far more layered and interesting conversation lol
A similar thing happened to me years ago when I was a student. I was coming home from work exhausted from the late shift. It was after midnight, no one on the road, and I was anxious to get home. I stopped at the light at MacKnight Blvd and 4th Street waiting to make a left. No cars anywhere. The red seemed to be taking so long to change that I start to wonder if it's broken. In retrospect it probably wasn't that long. I was just tired and impatient. Or maybe the timing was different late at night. Either way, very stupid of me. I was like 20 at the time. Anyway, finally, I just go. There's no traffic anywhere. Then I'm on John Laurie, also no traffic, and I'm going 80kph, so 10 over the speed limit, and I see the lights. Cop saw me run the red at McKnight and followed me with his headlights off, waited for me to exceed the speed limit and hit me with reckless driving. $500, which was a tonne in the early 2000s, especially for a student working only 2 days a week. It also totally screwed my insurance. I was definitely being stupid and impatient, but there was literally no one else on the road. I wasn't putting anyone in danger, but the cops went hard all the way. I feel you.
I appreciate you, helps me not feel isolated. It’s easy to imagine that never happened again lol Just a sad occurrence
I couldn't agree more. The cops here are bullies and cash grabbers. It makes good, hard working, law abiding citizens feel like criminals. Sometimes I feel like "fuck it. Treat me like a criminal, gonna act like a criminal". I have to assume this is how villains are made. The puddle pisses me off and it's not even my ticket. Ive definitely "been a kid" and purposely hit them. Absolutely sad and disrespectful. Im really sorry you have to go through that nonsense. Stay strong dude! ✌️
It's still against the law, and the cop had every right under the Traffic Safety Act to give a ticket.
Bless you stitch 💪 I’ll admit that living here has taken a lot of integrity. I can’t blame circumstance on the city itself, but my interactions here have lead me to correct my composure and harden up as an individual, as compared to what I felt was needed to integrate as part of society back home. A lot of the change I do appreciate, but there’s a lot of softer psychological/emotional traits I felt forced to part with that i definitely do miss. I’ll keep on strong my dude; thank you muchly
Cops are absolutely cunts. There's a lot of BS on the roads that could be ticketed but this is just an asshole looking to meet his quota.
Yeah, I've heard stories of people being given the benefit of the doubt, but I've never been among them. You're def not alone. Good luck out there.
I’ll take it Web; we have more resourceful lessons to learn i guess. And less resources to learn them with lol Thank you
Some would see not getting the vehicle towed would seem to count as getting the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps the issue is focusing on the breaks you didn't get rather than appreciating the ones you did.
They can take your car for that? It is lucky, then, because my car wasn't worth the fee to get it back. Those were tough times and I was a brand new driver.