Do the police ever charge a fellow officer with a traffic offence? I suspect that members of the public would respond "no" to that assertion and would be skeptical of protests to the contrary. This case involves an unmarked police car speeding on the Okanagan Connector near Merritt.
Circumstances of the Offence
A member of the Merritt Highway Patrol encountered a car travelling at 147 km/h in the posted 110 km/h zone. He pursued and stopped it only to find that it was an unmarked police car from the Kelowna Detachment driven by Constable Wlodarczak who was travelling to a training course in Chilliwack.
Police Exemption from the Speed Limit
After determining that there were no circumstances justifying an exemption for the speed under Section 122 MVA, the officer issued a speeding ticket to Constable Wlodarczak.
The Dispute
Constable Wlodarczak disputed the ticket saying that he was on duty and that alone entitled him to exceed the speed limit. He also testified that he was travelling downhill when measured and had set the cruise control for 130 km/h because this was his understanding of the "grace" or usual tolerance of the speed limit.
The Judgment
Judicial Justice Hughes summed up the case by saying:
Further, I do not find that the statutory exemptions claimed by Cst. Wlodarczak operate as a defence to his speeding on the date in question as I am not satisfied that he was engaged in the lawful execution of his duty, nor had a valid enforcement objective which would justify exceeding the speed limit. Additionally, he did not complete the risk assessment required by the Emergency Driving Regulation. Had he applied the tests contained in that Regulation, he would undoubtedly have concluded that exceeding the speed limit was not warranted.
He found him guilty of speeding as charged.
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