is this ticket story likely?

[TechnoGranola]

My mom told me this story today about a relative. She apparently got stopped by the police (might have been RCMP as she lives on an acreage outside of small town in Alberta) and she had installed her car seat quickly before she left, and the seat belt had ONE twist in it. She got a ticket for $180 because she was told she was endangering her child's life and that if they stopped her again for carseat misuse, her kids would get taken away.

I would think that it would be more useful to show her how to install the seat properly as I believe this was her brand new baby's seat, so she could have likely used the help and wasn't intentionally endangering her baby. Either that or there has to be more to this story, right? Do the RCMP in rural Alberta tend to be quick to give out tickets? and is the ticket $180 for misuse?

[Brilliantmama]

I'd guess there's more that wasn't shared.

[sparkyd]

I'm in Ottawa and I've heard stories (not first hand, mind you) of people getting warnings for things like having the carrier handle on an infant seat in the top position (which is actually OK on my infant seat - so carry your manual!), and for having after-market neck protectors (the ones that go around the restraint so it doesn't dig into your neck). I also heard a story about someone being pulled over by the provincial police and then they were not allowed to leave because their car seat was from the US. They had to call someone to come pick up their child with a proper car seat. Not sure about fines/demerit points.

[southpawboston]

I'd guess there's more that wasn't shared.

yeah, me too. :whistle:

[snowbird25ca]

The ticket is $145 unless it's gone up, and there's something called an option 4 that is a class she can take that will waive the ticket. :thumbsup:

Depending on what county she was in, it's quite likely that she might've gotten a ticket. Red Deer sheriffs are all being trained in the CRST course and are doing carseat checks with all routine traffic stops once trained. It's up to their discretion, but a twisted belt would be considered improper installation and could be ticketed for.

As for being stopped again & having her kids taken away, if she was told that it was a load of hooey unless there is much much more to the story... some police officers do sometimes exagerrate consequences though - and parents often distort what they're told when ticketed for carseat misuse, so who knows. ;)

But to answer your question, there's no running tally kept on how many carseat violations a parent has gotten and social services isn't waiting in the wings to swoop in and take the kids... but if there were other concerns, the police would be within rights to contact them - but that should be being done at first contact and not as a warning if there's reason to involve social services... so there's a part of the story missing somewhere...

(And all officers can ticket for misuse if they see it whether they're certified or not. Central AB is really cracking down, and I suspect the Lethbridge area sheriff's might be too. Even Edmonton has stepped up it's roadside safety checks in recent months and I think we're only going to see them become more consistent and regular.)

[TechnoGranola]

So, is option 4 a class on car seat installation? That would be sweet, I could make sure the message got to her about it! She lives near Bonnyville I believe.

And we have COUNTIES in Canada? Are you kidding me? I had NO idea! And I've even lived in Alberta (in both Edmonton and Calgary). :)

[snowbird25ca]

So, is option 4 a class on car seat installation? That would be sweet, I could make sure the message got to her about it! She lives near Bonnyville I believe.

And we have COUNTIES in Canada? Are you kidding me? I had NO idea! And I've even lived in Alberta (in both Edmonton and Calgary). :)

Option 4 is a 2? hr education class. The ticketed driver has to attend the class in it's entirety. The class involves videos on the basics of installation, videos on seatbelt use, videos on safe driving & some interviews with parents who lost kids due to being improperly restrained. The basics of installation video also covers different stages of travel. I think they might use TC's "Safe in the car" DVD. (I think that's the name of TC's DVD for parents... I don't remember for sure at the moment.) They're required to bring their ticket with them to the course, and it's dealt with at the end of the session. Depending on where it's taken, the seats may also be inspected and/or corrected at the end of the session. (Red Deer does this, I'm not sure what other areas do..)

Option 4 isn't offered in every circumstance. It depends on what else the ticket was written for because when a parent is offered option 4 and takes it, the entire ticket is dismissed. So if there's drug charges or dangerous driving charges or something on there along those lines, option 4 may not be offered. St. John's Ambulance runs the classes usually once a month or so, and at varying times to try and allow caregivers who have different schedules to be able to take it before their ticket becomes payable. (Interesting note, only 1/3 of those eligible actually take it, the rest just pay the ticket... and most police will ticket for at least 2 things at a time,)

As for counties, yep, tons of counties. What I didn't realize was that we actually have sheriffs and peace officers as well in AB. Peace officers are mostly traffic enforcement & they're not allowed to carry a gun. Red Deer County has peace officers, Edmonton does too... I think most areas in the province do. But yeah, there's County of Parkland, County of Lac St. Anne, County of Red Deer and others that I wouldn't be able to list. Pretty much any area outside of one of the main cities is in a county. Like Spruce Grove and Stony Plain are county of Parkland. :thumbsup:

I don't entirely understand the balance of RCMP/sheriffs/city police. Edmonton has it's own police force, Red Deer has sheriffs (they use sheriffs generically, it's not like in the US where a sheriff is the head of a police department,) I believe Calgary's police force is independent. Lacombe also has it's own force aside from RCMP. RCMP does mainly rural enforcement and smaller towns it seems - and there's some fun and exciting Alberta trivia for you. ;) :p

[tcottawa]

I'm in Ottawa and I've heard stories (not first hand, mind you) of people getting warnings for things like having the carrier handle on an infant seat in the top position (which is actually OK on my infant seat - so carry your manual!), and for having after-market neck protectors (the ones that go around the restraint so it doesn't dig into your neck). I also heard a story about someone being pulled over by the provincial police and then they were not allowed to leave because their car seat was from the US. They had to call someone to come pick up their child with a proper car seat. Not sure about fines/demerit points.

For cars coming from the US, yes this could be true. I think its three demerit points, and they might have had to get another seat to get home. There isn't a distinction LEGALLY between a US seat, and a seat improperly installed or used improperly (ie, for the wrong size child).

There aren't many police here who have taken the class, AFAIK, so I'd really be surprised about someone being warned about after-market products (especially since they aren't against the law!). By warned, it was probably just a verbal thing like "You know you shouldn't use those things, right?". That is a pretty bizarre example since a few carseats COME with those things and are ok to use with them - how a cop would know at a glance I'm not sure.