Monday, December 16, 2013

America Junior.

Nearly ten years ago I received a traffic ticket in downtown Vancouver, BC for making a left turn onto a street during a time when it was posted to not turn left.  It was one of those signs that has a graphic indicating "no left turn" followed by what times of day it is not permitted to turn left.  I was confused, slightly lost, and it was pouring rain during rush hour; I took the fucking left turn.  

After I turned, I was immediately met by an officer standing in the middle of the street motioning me to pull over.  I obliged and had a brief discussion with the officer about why I turned left; mostly I was confused, stressed and clearly from out of town with my state of Colorado driver's license and vehicle registration.  He proceeded to write me a ticket for the infraction and, now slightly pissed along with the other range of emotions, I carried on my way.

I never paid that damn ticket, and I never will.  I will never pay a traffic ticket from another country when I don't necessarily plan on frequenting that country and continuing to break traffic laws.  I've since returned to Canada more than once(a country and culture I adore), and I've been conscious of this unpaid ticket.  You want to know why I have to be aware of it?  Because ten damn years later I still receive notices twice a year from some bureau in British Columbia of my unpaid fine!  There's got to be a statute of limitations in Canada and they need to realize they aren't getting my US dollars for the stupid traffic ticket.  They can't affect my driver's license in US and they can't affect any insurance I have here either.  Take that Canada.

So coming up on nearly ten years since that ticket, I'm curious if Canada will give one up to US and stop sending me notices of my fine.  At this point, they've probably spent more in postage and manpower to make me aware of it than the fine is even worth anyways.  Whether they do, or whether they don't, I'm keeping my money.  I'd rather spend it going to Canada and spending my money on tourism than paying a fine that will never, ever affect my driving record. 

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