A little bit more on bill C118

From the RAC Blog comes a report that some Ontario Police Departments are slightly confused about our 3 year exemption for Amateur Radio Gear as far as the Electronic Devices Ban goes…

Speaking from experience (No I was not stopped for this one but…) I would strongly recommend that if you find an officer who thinks you are not exempt do not argue with him.

You could mention that you were of the understanding that the bill exempted Amateur Radio Equipment and its operation for 3 years and as a licenced Amateur Operator (show him your license) that you are exempt for that period of time.

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BUT>>>> A police officer is very much like a hockey referee or a baseball umpire… You are not going to win an argument with one so why raise everyones blood pressure by screaming at him and calling him all the nasties in the book..  All you will do is firstly annoy him to the point of looking for other infractions you or your vehicle might be guilty of and secondly he won’t be very impressed with the next amateur who drives by his location and that might be me…

SO>>> If he won’t listen to your calm explanations just shut your yap and take the damn ticket.  You will beat it in court anyway….  But if he has his mind set on writing the ticket any loud arguments on your part is just an invitiation for him to find something else to write you up on….  No one wins an argument with a referee but you can appeal the ref’s bad call.  You are not going to win an argument with the officer but the crown attorney will toss out the charge if you explain things to him…

The standard disclaimer applies>>> You might have the bad luck to have a misinformed officer and an unsympathetic Crown Attorney and actually might have to go to court to beat the charge but the Bill is in Black and White and as long as the secondary charge of Dangerous Driving is not involved ( you are not exempt from that) you will be (should be) successful.

The standard disclaimer also applies>>>  I am a blogger not a legal expert.  The opinions stated above are mine alone and if you have any questions you should contact a professional.  You take any information in this blog at your own risk…  Your situation/circumstances could vary depending on various factors…

So remember a “P!ssed off”  Officer writes more tickets than one who hears the words “yes sir”….

73bob

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Tags: amateur radio, Bill C 118, Ontario Cell Phone Ban, RAC Blog