A Manitoban challenged a speedy fine in court and won not only for himself, but also for 40 other drivers, when a speed limit sign placed in a construction zone was not approved by the City of Winnipeg.
In 2016, Gary Gowler was fined $ 469.25 for exceeding the speed limit posted on a sign placed by the construction company PCL Constructors Canada.
The sign in question was at a construction site located on Route du Plessis, in Winnipeg.
In June 2016, police issued 47 fines over two days on drivers who exceeded the 30 km/h limit indicated by the sign, in an area typically 50 km/h.
According to Mr. Gowler, two days after he received the fine, the sign was no longer there. He believes the fact that the police are interfering is due to a sign placed there by a construction company outrageous.
” Why would the officers stand there and hand out 47 fines, including mine? The sign is also not legal. “
While researching, Manitoban realized that the speed limit sign was actually not approved. That’s why he challenged his fine in 2018.
The court decided to stop the trial, ending the fine on Gary Gowler and six other drivers who also challenged them.
But that was not enough for Mr. Gowler. It keeps bothering me, he explains. In January 2021, he sent a letter of complaint to Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth.
This triggered a process that ended in a corrective court order, leading to the refund of fines issued to 41 drivers, totaling $ 12,833.33, according to a Justice Department spokesman.
A review of the case since 2016 revealed a procedural errors according to a statement from Chief of Police Staff John Burchill.
Officers moved to the scene on their own, in response to workers ’complaints about speeding in a construction zonehe says.
Since then, the new procedure has required district officials to verify speed-restricted areas in the City of Winnipeg.
Concerned workers
The company responsible for the works on the Route du Plessis in 2016, PCL Constructors Canadaclaimed to have made a request to reduce speed to 30 km / h in the city.
Workers are concerned for their safety because of vehicles passing by the siteexplanation by vice president and district leader for PCL Kelly Wallace.
Wallace said the company is actively ordering speed limit signs. When they arrived at the site, one of the panels was accidentally installed, without prior approval.
After realizing that the sign had been erected without approval, it was removed and discussions continued with local authorities to reduce speed at the site.explanation by the PCL representative.
The request, however, was not approved. It didn’t meet municipal standards, according to Winnipeg Public Works communications manager Ken Allen.
One of these criteria is that the road on which the site is located has a speed limit of 80 km/h or more, which did not happen for the site on the road to Plessis according to Mr. Allen.
Ken Allen added that the city has no request for the designation of a construction site for the project in question in its files.
With information from Vera-Lynn Kubinec
Source: Radio-Canada
