Editor:
We were tourists to your fair northern city and passed through on May 7.
We have heard so many exciting things and were considering investing/buying either commercial or residential real estate in your area.
We were abuzz with ideas and planned on investigating more on our return trip in a few days.
Outside the city of Smithers, perhaps a 10 minute drive, we were apprehended and pulled over by a conservation officer after passing him on a single yellow line.
The officer proceeded to write us a ticket for $105 and 3 points.
He said we passed on a double yellow line (there was no double yellow line as the second line was not visible; it was completely, and I mean completely, worn out).
We actually passed the machine that was re-painting the yellow lines on the highway about 30 min. behind us.
We passed in a safe area with very little traffic, not speeding and we had a line of site of about 600 metres.
My husband said he wanted the officer to walk back with him and he would show him that was untrue.
He refused and said we could fight it in court.
The short of the long story is that we proceeded on our journey, completely disillusioned by a single officers judge and jury attitude.
We returned the next day, where we went to the powers that be with video evidence of an unjust, unfair and clearly inaccurate ticket given.
It was disappointing to see the authorities protecting their own when a mistake had been made.
I might point out that my spouse was a highway engineer involved in designing highways.
He has never received a ticket, speeding or otherwise, in 20 years and 100’s of thousands of miles.
After much debate, we paid our ticket (lawyers are expensive) to a sympathetic receptionist at the court house that morning.
That was our first and last experience in your beautiful city.
My husband refuses to ever return.
Terry Ann Tornes
Garibaldi Highlands