The news releases we get from OPP detachments fascinate me. Many times they have no relevance to our audience and the issues they concern are so small, they’re not newsworthy. But once in a while one comes in that’s so unusual, it bears some sort of mention.
Last week, Chatham-Kent OPP caught a Dodge Challenger on radar. It was eastbound on the 401 and doing well above the 100 km/hr speed limit. Officers pulled the car over and the driver either wasn’t quick enough or was just foolish enough to leave his DVD player in plain view. It was playing a video, which one I don’t know, but it was mounted to the windshield in front of his stupid face. The 24-year-old from Toledo, Ohio is charged with careless driving. It’s assumed he wasn’t doing 150 km/hr or that would have resulted in the loss of his car and his licence for 7 days.
Also last week, while Oxford OPP worked to reconstruct a serious accident on the 401 at Ingersoll, they also dedicated officers to keeping an eye on the idiots who always do dangerous things to get around a highway closure. Six drivers were charged with attempting to use an on ramp as an off ramp, putting oncoming traffic in danger. The exit ramps were open but apparently moving too slowly for these fools’ liking.
A CP train experienced a mechanical problem at the worst possible time last Friday morning. It was stuck on the tracks, which cut right through downtown London, bringing north-south traffic to a virtual standstill for half an hour at about 8 am, the height of rush hour. People were understandably annoyed but some pulled U-turns and had near-misses with their held-up neighbours. Not long ago, I saw a guy who did that same move get pulled over by a London officer and ticketed. It was suh-weet! These incidents make me wonder whether police are making a conscious effort to put more resources into the things that drive us buggy about our fellow motorists.
And recently, a woman from Michigan was caught near Sarnia doing 50-over and she went ballistic when OPP brought in a tow truck to impound her car. She ended up with charges for assault on a police officer and a long list of other offences. It’s often said that ignorance of the law is no defence. Remind your American friends. We don’t just take your money, we’ll take your car and your right to drive and even when you head back home to America, you’ll still have to hitch a ride or take the bus. Ask them if it’s still worth putting a rush on their ride when those are the stakes.