Canadian police pull over entire Mini convoy
#1
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Every year, the Southern Ontario Mini Club organizes two charity drives – one in the Spring and one in the Fall. Over time, the event has grown from a handful of participating cars to over 30, and as such, this year the organizers let local law enforcement know where the caravan would be and when it would be there as a courtesy. So far, so good, right? Not exactly.
During the first part of the drive, the convoy ran into a few members of the Ontario Provincial Police without incident. One officer even went so far as to tell the organizers that there was only one other patrol for the rest of the route. Turns out that wasn't quite true.
Instead of providing an escort for the convoy or thanking the organizers for a heads up, the OPP set up a speed trap along the route where the limit changes from 100 km/h to 90 km/h. When the parade of Minis came past, officers pulled over the whole lot, and cited three cars for going 121-123 kmh in a 90 kmh zone, or about 76 in a 55. One driver was also cited for having a radar detector and had his equipment confiscated.
Yes, setting up a speed trap on a charity drive is a ***** move, but it gets worse. The OPP evidently called the local television station beforehand so they could film the whole sting. Once the station had the film, they broadcast a story claiming that 11 of the Mini drivers had been arrested for doing 50 kmh over the speed limit and that they had their vehicles confiscated as a result. Even worse, the story claimed that some of the Mini drivers had their children with them and that the OPP had called the Canadian equivalent of child services on the parents.
Members of the Mini club complained to the station, and the video was taken down as a result, though no apology or retraction has been issued so far.
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http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/01/c...e-mini-convoy/
Canada rules!!
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OPP is getting out of hands now
by the way, for those who dont know what OPP is, it is the Ontario Provincial Police
all other provinces uses RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) which has less of these ***** cops (not talking about the city level police right now)
by the way, for those who dont know what OPP is, it is the Ontario Provincial Police
all other provinces uses RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) which has less of these ***** cops (not talking about the city level police right now)
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That is the economy for you. Everywhere they are looking to make extra money. Even were I live I notice a lot more Police speed traps. A few months ago when I got a ticket they only asked for my license. No registration, no insurance nothing. They just wrote the ticket quickly and moved on to the next speeder. They just keep pulling people over all day as quickly as possibly.
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Instead of providing an escort for the convoy or thanking the organizers for a heads up, the OPP set up a speed trap along the route where the limit changes from 100 km/h to 90 km/h. When the parade of Minis came past, officers pulled over the whole lot, and cited three cars for going 121-123 kmh in a 90 kmh zone, or about 76 in a 55. One driver was also cited for having a radar detector and had his equipment confiscated.
Yes, setting up a speed trap on a charity drive is a ***** move,
Originally Posted by CK6Speed
That is the economy for you. Everywhere they are looking to make extra money.
Last edited by mmarshall; 05-01-10 at 02:27 PM.
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The problem with this is the fact that it was a staged media show by the OPP...who invited the media to film it. They knew the route since the club mailed it to them. They were also told by an officer at the start of the meet that there were no cops along the way, which appears to have been done on purpose to get them to speed.
While they may have been going faster than the speed limit, the de facto speed limit is usually +20-30 km/h on Ontario highways...you only get pulled over for going really faster compared to others usually.
According to the people at the meet, people going faster than them were allowed to pass while they were pulled over. So it was clearly a publicity stunt by the OPP, which is pushing the so called "speed kills" agenda. This was further exaggerated by the media by saying everybody at the meet was going 50km/h over the speed limit when nobody actually got a ticket for that.
While they may have been going faster than the speed limit, the de facto speed limit is usually +20-30 km/h on Ontario highways...you only get pulled over for going really faster compared to others usually.
According to the people at the meet, people going faster than them were allowed to pass while they were pulled over. So it was clearly a publicity stunt by the OPP, which is pushing the so called "speed kills" agenda. This was further exaggerated by the media by saying everybody at the meet was going 50km/h over the speed limit when nobody actually got a ticket for that.
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According to the people at the meet, people going faster than them were allowed to pass while they were pulled over. So it was clearly a publicity stunt by the OPP, which is pushing the so called "speed kills" agenda.
This was further exaggerated by the media by saying everybody at the meet was going 50km/h over the speed limit when nobody actually got a ticket for that.
Last edited by mmarshall; 05-01-10 at 04:27 PM.
#10
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If I were in charge at Mini of North America, I would pay for everyone's ticket. How cool of a publicity move would this be? It is clearly unfair of the OPP to target the Mini owners on their charity drive.
How much money do you think all of those tickets would add up to? It would be a super cool PR move if this were to happen.
How much money do you think all of those tickets would add up to? It would be a super cool PR move if this were to happen.
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How much money do you think all of those tickets would add up to?
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Yes, it was a pretty sorry move, but look at it this way. Here was a car club ostensibly conducting a charity event, but leading the run 30 kph over the posted limit is irresponsible in the extreme. That's not a charity event, it's a race - let's put the correct name on it.
The local cops were well within their rights to stop these lawbreakers - and certainly were acting to protect other users of the roadway when this crew of scofflaws decided they were immune to prosecution because they were conducting their event for a noble cause. I wonder what the officials of the charity think of their name being dragged into this?
The local cops were well within their rights to stop these lawbreakers - and certainly were acting to protect other users of the roadway when this crew of scofflaws decided they were immune to prosecution because they were conducting their event for a noble cause. I wonder what the officials of the charity think of their name being dragged into this?