I guess it must have been slow business in Surrey today…Especially officer knob-bob in Surrey, BC. With all due respect, I appreciate police and what they do for our community and society…but sometimes rather than being a knob they need to lighten up and accept that mistakes are more likely to happen to someone who doesn’t regularly visit their city or town, etc. I am just a little annoyed, so take this post as that – being annoyed!
Today, I got pulled over by an officer in an under cover truck on my drive from Vancouver to Surrey with my wife, on my way to see my Niece and Sister in law.
I was driving down Scott Rd, and then took a right on Old-Yale Road, following my GPS to my sister in laws place, (only the 2nd time going up to their house) so fairly new territory for me. In any case, I was driving behind 2 vehicles. #1. A red truck, #2. A car (not sure what color, but think it was blue). Doesn’t matter really. Well, Driving about 100 Meters behind them , I did not see them stop ahead of me at 124th street nor did I see the stop sign which was at Old Yale Road & 124 Avenue as it was dusk (around 6:10pm) and also because I was paying attention to the intersection lights, as there are light poles, but they are covered up (I guess the lights are not working..?) In fact, I did not at all see the stop sign, as I was more-less focused on the light pulls (not your standard light pulls, but the type that blink for a cross-walk) (See Image, pulled from google maps) – As soon as we did however go through, I said “Oh, Shit, Oops there was a stop sign there, totally didn’t see it). In any case didn’t think much of it after that.
I continued up the road 1km and was following the two other cars in front of me (I noticed that there was a truck behind me). they were going ass slow (about 35KM/hr up the hill – perhaps the first guy should have got a traffic violation for going too slow!). I stopped at the intersection at 128 St & Old Yale and then got pulled over as soon as I went through. I asked what I did wrong and he told me that I did not stop at the stop sign, referring to 124th street (we are at 128th street where I got pulled over).
Last but not least, he just gave me the ticket, didn’t ask me to sign for it… (not that you have too, but normally you would). The other thing is, his ticket is time for 6:02pm. The audio recording below is at 6:15 – He is about 10 minutes off on his timings…guess he needs a new clock..
A little annoyed, feeling a little like the officer maybe was being a little bit of a door knob..he even invited me to dispute the ticket – in which I will do, as I rarely ever go to Surrey and am really curious to know why he followed me for 1KM before actually giving me a ticket. He told me I was going 45km/hr…which is good because it was a 50km zone, which means I wasn’t speeding! Whoop whoop! – Further to this, he asked me 3x if I was drunk…Come On, seriously? Did I look drunk, did I smell drunk, if so why not give me a breathalyzer rather than keep asking me? - No, I was not drinking today…but I can imagine, I am quite jet-lagged so I probably looked tired as ass… I am assuming it just must have been a slow afternoon for Surrey police today… I am sure they have drug sellers and murderers to catch, rather than some non-local to accidently not see a stop sign.
Picture for you: – Point A, where I failed to stop or see the sign. – Point B, where I got stopped (1km away) – Point C, where I was going.
Just a final note, if you were wondering…yes there was a Tim Hortons near by…just saying…and Yes, I will be disputing this as I have questions and want answers! (I don’t mind paying for my mistake, but I really do want to know why he waited 1KM to pull me over?) – Perhaps it is also not understandable for a Surrey Police officer to understand that someone from Vancouver, may not be familiar with all their roads…we all try to be vigilant, and sometimes can miss a sign..good thing it is basically a “back road”… (I also have an audio clip of our conversation, but WordPress doesn’t allow me to upload that unless I pay $20…
