Expired drivers licenses, no lights, no trailer brakes, a little to much to drink and you are being told to park your vehicle at the roadside and this is the end of your journey. Can’t I just drive home? I’m only few blocks away….
When you ask this question you are asking the police officer to assume legal liability for you by giving their permission to continue the offence. Sure, you don’t intend to have a problem like a crash on the way home and in the majority of cases, nothing will happen. But what if it does?
If the consequences are serious ones, there is little doubt that the driver is going to yell loudly that the police said it was OK, and point fingers directly at the officer involved. Now what? The officer could face being told by their employer, too bad, you knew better than to do that, don’t ask us for any help.
The officer may face serious financial consequences for having been “a good guy/gal” and letting you go. This is not a nice picture.
So, the next time you are at the roadside being told, “Sorry, park it here or order a tow truck,” the officer is not trying to be miserable, they are only trying to protect themselves and do the job in the way they have been trained.
For more information about this topic, visit www.drivesmartbc.ca. Questions or comments are welcome by e-mail to comments@drivesmartbc.ca. Tim Schewe is a retired RCMP constable with many years of traffic law enforcement experience. His column appears Thursdays.
