Road design, safety and Vision Zero

[jeffster]

I thought judges almost always believed police? Isn’t it almost impossible to impeach police testimony even when it’s problematic?

Actually, I missed that line.

Courts are not really a relevant part of the justice system for anything but major crimes. The vast vast VAST majority of minor offences (like 99%+) never see a court room. They don't solve these problems.

And going to court for offences like this usually relate more to who is charged, and their resources.

Back in the day, I was driving in Guelph and my 'oil pressure sensing unit' got blown. This meant my car was spewing a whole bunch of smoke. I had my friend with me, and she knew where a good mechanic was, so I started driving there, when I got pulled over. Officer asked if I knew why he pulled me over, and I said "probably because I am burning oil" and he was questioning why I was driving with it like that, and I said "I am driving down the road to 'Joe's Auto Repair', and he's like "I don't believe you, you're lying" so the cop goes back to the car, and we're waiting there for a good 45 minutes, and he finally comes back, "I am charging you with Unreasonable Smoke" -- and I look at the ticket, and said "I am not paying for this, see you in court."

Anyway, I got to court, and guess who's there, the idiot cop and his buddies. He actually took the stand as did I, and I actually had to cross examine him like this was some court case, and I said "Did you not call me a liar when I said was going to get my car repaired" and he denied it. Either way, I brought my evidence of my car repair in Guelph, a $56 fix. So in the end, the judge says "I do find that you were guilty of unreasonable smoke, but I also find that the police officer is guilty of an unreasonable charge -- so I am throwing out this charge with extreme prejudice."

Look on the cops face was priceless.

And the ticket was small, almost not worth fighting. Had the cop not be such a dick during out whole interactions that we had, I'd probably would have just paid it. I mean, had I been pulled over, and he said "Yeah, you got too much smoke coming from your car, it could be a hazard if it gets worse, so I am sorry but I have to charge you...but I'll escort you to the garage since it's only 2 minutes up the street."

But no, this guy was on roids and had some serious personal issues.