Got a ticket on my new side by side this morning

[rocpilefsj]

I was camping out past rocky mountain house down the 752 towards the trunk road and brought my new rzr with me. Rode it all weekend, this morning me and the boy jump in it and are driving along the trail beside the road when a fish and wildlife officer pulls up beside me with her lights on so I pull over of course. She asks me why I am driving on the road, I say I'm not I am driving in the ditch? She says any numbered hiway (752) the roadway extends from treeline to treeline so I am driving on the road by law. I am trying to be as nice as possible but this lady is a real pitbull, she also has an rcmp member with her who is trying to be as nice as possible. I forgot to throw my insurance and registration back into the glovebox from the night before so she had to follow me back to my camp which was an error on my part. I give her everything and she writes me up a 230 ticket for operating an OHV on a roadway! I tried talking with her but she was very unprofessional and ended up talking with the rcmp officer instead. I have been camping out there for years and have never seen this, anytime I would see a fish and wildlife officer when I was on my quad I would wave from the ditch and get a wave back... I think I was more upset with the way she handled the situation than anything as it really gave my 5 year old son a bad taste in his mouth for authority lol. I have never had an issue with fish and wildlife until today.

[6BRNewb]

Its nearing the end of the month......you've heard about quotas??

Sorry to hear your weekend got ruined.

[sheepguide]

Heard there was going to be a big crack down on ATVers out that way. Maybe it's started!

[BANG]

Thats brutal .great way to win public support.she is a idiot

[Don Andersen]

Looks like a ditch is part of the "highway"
Surprised me!

5. Highway – “highway” means any thoroughfare, street, road, trail, avenue, parkway, driveway, viaduct, lane, alley, square, bridge, causeway, trestleway or other place or any part of any of them, whether publicly or privately owned, that the public is ordinarily entitled or permitted to use for the passage or parking of vehicles and includes:
i. Asidewalk,includingaboulevardadjacenttothesidewalk
ii. Ifaditchliesadjacenttoandparallelwiththeroadway,th editch,and
iii. Ifahighwayrightofwayiscontainedbetweenfencesorbetw eena fence and one side of the roadway, all the land between the fences, or all the land between the fence and the edge of the roadway as the case may be, but does not include a place declared by regulation not to be a highway.
(Traffic Safety Act, Section 1)

[skidderman]

Trying to justify just how much power they have. I think this kind of behavior backfires.. I have lost all credibility to Fish & Wildlife and I don't think I'm alone.

[just_dave]

Call her supervisor. Ask her supervisor to tell her to ctfd. (in a nice way)

Tell the supervisor about your kids reaction. Then be like, "Yeah, even my kid thought the officer's lack of professionalism was ridiculous."

I think someone was showing off.

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by rocpilefsj

I was camping out past rocky mountain house down the 752 towards the trunk road and brought my new rzr with me. Rode it all weekend, this morning me and the boy jump in it and are driving along the trail beside the road when a fish and wildlife officer pulls up beside me with her lights on so I pull over of course. She asks me why I am driving on the road, I say I'm not I am driving in the ditch? She says any numbered hiway (752) the roadway extends from treeline to treeline so I am driving on the road by law. I am trying to be as nice as possible but this lady is a real pitbull, she also has an rcmp member with her who is trying to be as nice as possible. I forgot to throw my insurance and registration back into the glovebox from the night before so she had to follow me back to my camp which was an error on my part. I give her everything and she writes me up a 230 ticket for operating an OHV on a roadway! I tried talking with her but she was very unprofessional and ended up talking with the rcmp officer instead. I have been camping out there for years and have never seen this, anytime I would see a fish and wildlife officer when I was on my quad I would wave from the ditch and get a wave back... I think I was more upset with the way she handled the situation than anything as it really gave my 5 year old son a bad taste in his mouth for authority lol. I have never had an issue with fish and wildlife until today.

Are you suggesting they made up a ticket for you??? Or the fact you broke more than one law gave them little choice as a multiple infraction. Hope you pointed out to the little fellow they were in the right and his dad did in fact break more than one law.good to see the law being up held.

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by just_dave

Call her supervisor. Ask her supervisor to tell her to ctfd. (in a nice way)

Tell the supervisor about your kids reaction. Then be like, "Yeah, even my kid thought the officer's lack of professionalism was ridiculous."

I think someone was showing off.

Ya a five year old thats how we should judge our law enforcement people.lol get serious.

[sjd]

Could probably have coupled the enforcement blitz with an education blitz as it sounds like lots of folks are ignorant of the law, but are you saying that they shouldn't enforce the law and driving along numbered highways is OK?

"I've always done it" is not a very good excuse.

[RavYak]

It actually is illegal unless the local municipality has put a bylaw in place allowing it to be legal.

An off highway vehicle as they refer to them must be registered and insured if you are going to use them on public land or highways and you must have a valid drivers license as well.

That is the problem with quads and side by sides etc. There are very few places you can legally operate them so most people end up riding in ditches etc not even realizing that it is illegal.

[greylynx]

Not even a warning.

Chalk another one up for public relations in law enforcement training.

Mr. Rockpile, If you saw a major poaching incident occurring after this incident would you bother to contact the authorities?

[elkhunter11]

Signs are posted all along the main highway where I live, stating that it is illegal to ride off highway vehicles in the ditch.

[rocpilefsj]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

Are you suggesting they made up a ticket for you??? Or the fact you broke more than one law gave them little choice as a multiple infraction. Hope you pointed out to the little fellow they were in the right and his dad did in fact break more than one law.good to see the law being up held.

I did explain to my son what I did wrong. What I can't explain is her lack of professionalism while carrying out her job. I have never heard of this ever and I have been an avid atv enthusiast for years and years.

[greylynx]

Originally Posted by just_dave

Call her supervisor. Ask her supervisor to tell her to ctfd. (in a nice way)

Tell the supervisor about your kids reaction. Then be like, "Yeah, even my kid thought the officer's lack of professionalism was ridiculous."

I think someone was showing off.

I will add a bit to Dave's post.

Phone 310 000 in Edmonton. Toll Free province wide.

Ask to talk to the SRD ADM's office. Give them your story. Your MLA should also be notified.

[Sled Ed]

Originally Posted by rocpilefsj

I was camping out past rocky mountain house down the 752 towards the trunk road and brought my new rzr with me. Rode it all weekend, this morning me and the boy jump in it and are driving along the trail beside the road when a fish and wildlife officer pulls up beside me with her lights on so I pull over of course. She asks me why I am driving on the road, I say I'm not I am driving in the ditch? She says any numbered hiway (752) the roadway extends from treeline to treeline so I am driving on the road by law. I am trying to be as nice as possible but this lady is a real pitbull, she also has an rcmp member with her who is trying to be as nice as possible. I forgot to throw my insurance and registration back into the glovebox from the night before so she had to follow me back to my camp which was an error on my part. I give her everything and she writes me up a 230 ticket for operating an OHV on a roadway! I tried talking with her but she was very unprofessional and ended up talking with the rcmp officer instead. I have been camping out there for years and have never seen this, anytime I would see a fish and wildlife officer when I was on my quad I would wave from the ditch and get a wave back... I think I was more upset with the way she handled the situation than anything as it really gave my 5 year old son a bad taste in his mouth for authority lol. I have never had an issue with fish and wildlife until today.

That same chick has Ben giving out lots of tickets out there. But seen to be only her. She tried to give me one. But I knew it was her so. Did not stop. Just hit a trail quick. I was to.d they are part tome help looking after the prairie creek and ram river camp grounds. RCMP. Dive by and just wave. Hope they move on soon

[Don Andersen]

Forget the ESRD issue and focus on what the act says if correct.

You will no longer be able to park along any highway and ride your OHV away from the parking spot if you use the ditch.
Highway #752 is but a fraction of the roadways involved. How about Highway #40 that runs from the Crow to Grand Cache.
Hundred of people ride in ditches each day. There is gonna be a lot of howling as ticket book after ticket book gets filled out.

regards,


Don

[mike780]

that is what i like to call PMS! lol maybe it was her time of the month?

[Wild&Free]

Originally Posted by sjd

Could probably have coupled the enforcement blitz with an education blitz as it sounds like lots of folks are ignorant of the law, but are you saying that they shouldn't enforce the law and driving along numbered highways is OK?

"I've always done it" is not a very good excuse.

It is your responsibility to ensure your actions are legal before engaging in them. Ignorance has never been a viable defense. When you get your drivers license you sign a piece of paper saying you have read and understand the motor vehicle act, yet I doubt you've read it, I doubt most people have. I've only read a few pages of it before getting fed up with confusing language and grammar. The real scary one is signing a T1... it means you've read and understand the Income Tax Act, a 2499 page piece of circular references and confusion.

[BANG]

Lets not forget In many instances civil disobedience is the right call if you ever want to make changes for the better or live within a moral code of conduct no matter if it is a "law"
Ex.No one i respect rolled over like a whipped dog and registered there long guns when we were living under that dark cloud.

[harv3589]

Originally Posted by mike780

that is what i like to call PMS! lol maybe it was her time of the month?

And there is always two sides to a story...

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by BANG

Lets not forget In many instances civil disobedience is the right call if you ever want to make changes for the better or live within a moral code of conduct no matter if it is a "law"
Ex.No one i respect registered there long guns when we were living under that dark cloud.

Lol the great ditch gypsy protest of 2013 . I can see the head line ditch dwellers of the alberta west country protest laws that limit there motorized ditch fun.lol "get up stand up for ditch life"

[AB RANGER 007]

Like the Alberta Travel Posters Say

K B4 Y G


Then thereis no


Bruce.

[Nait Hadya]

Originally Posted by rocpilefsj

I did explain to my son what I did wrong. What I can't explain is her lack of professionalism while carrying out her job. I have never heard of this ever and I have been an avid atv enthusiast for years and years.

very unprofessional, she should have seized your OHV and allowed you to walk back to your camp, get your truck and trailer then fetch your OHV from the roadway. she should have issued tickets for no documents, x2. yup, very unprofessional.

[sheepguide]

Hundreds of miles of trails right in that area and most people run up and down the ditch. Could never figure that!!

[Ricktye]

Sorry, but I don't see anywhere in your comments what was unprofessional?? Because she wasn't being friendly? Because she enforced the law? Why was your son upset with some one enforcing the law?

IMO there's getting to much of this "I believe I'm above the law" attitude out there on our roads.... Just go for a drive sometime and watch the number of rolling stops, speeders, failure to signal, failure to yield right of way etc etc. Apparently the law doesn't matter any more to a lot out there, then they b1tch when they get charged!

In your case, I probably would have been driving in the ditch too, I see lots of quads, snowmobiles there and never thought much of it until today. However, as they say, ignorance of the law is not an excuse. I would have been charged too...

Originally Posted by rocpilefsj

I was camping out past rocky mountain house down the 752 towards the trunk road and brought my new rzr with me. Rode it all weekend, this morning me and the boy jump in it and are driving along the trail beside the road when a fish and wildlife officer pulls up beside me with her lights on so I pull over of course. She asks me why I am driving on the road, I say I'm not I am driving in the ditch? She says any numbered hiway (752) the roadway extends from treeline to treeline so I am driving on the road by law. I am trying to be as nice as possible but this lady is a real pitbull, she also has an rcmp member with her who is trying to be as nice as possible. I forgot to throw my insurance and registration back into the glovebox from the night before so she had to follow me back to my camp which was an error on my part. I give her everything and she writes me up a 230 ticket for operating an OHV on a roadway! I tried talking with her but she was very unprofessional and ended up talking with the rcmp officer instead. I have been camping out there for years and have never seen this, anytime I would see a fish and wildlife officer when I was on my quad I would wave from the ditch and get a wave back... I think I was more upset with the way she handled the situation than anything as it really gave my 5 year old son a bad taste in his mouth for authority lol. I have never had an issue with fish and wildlife until today.

[riden]

I didn't know this was against the law, but when I think about it, I really am not surprised.

I know of a couple of accidents and some close calls, all really are the same story. Car/truck is on a side road in farm country, approaching highway and they pass the tree line just before the ditch. Quad is driving along in the ditch on the other side of the tree line, car/truck passes the tree line, and wham----there just is no time for either to react, not that there is anything the car/truck could do.

There is a walking trail I frequent that has a well worn quad trail right beside the highway, where just this scenario could occur 10 times in a 3 mile stretch. I had a super close call once, where I was a passenger where a quad flew by in just the scenario I described. My friend and I were talking about it, and who would be at fault, because it is really hard to prevent by either party. Now I know it would be the quad. Mind you, we were wondering if the quad driver would survive, he would have been sent airborne ay 80KM/H.

I am sure there has been a ton of accidents I don't know about too in that stretch. Too me this makes perfect sense, because I have often thought this is a dangerous situation.

[deanmc]

Its been Illegal for at least 35 years. My friend got a ticket for it way back when.

[jungleboy]

rule number 1 never ever post a thread on AO about your quad problems . It brings all the haters out of the woodwork.(chances are the srd officer is also a hater with a happy ticket book)

Rule number 2 if you do run into an issue with your atv refer to rule number 1

[Nait Hadya]

Your insurance may not be valid while riding along the road, 2500.00?