A mother from Montreal's West Island plans to contest a $169 traffic ticket she was given for driving in a lane reserved for buses, taxis and carpools with her daughter.
Stéphanie Émond was driving on Sources Boulevard with her nine-year-old daughter, and was heading back to the West Island to pick up her son from school when she was pulled over.
"I showed the police officer, 'Look, my daughter is here with me in the back,' and she told me that the passenger needs to have a driver's licence."
This lane on Sources Boulevard, reserved for buses, taxis and carpooling, is where Émond was pulled over. Her daughter was in the car with her at the time. (Sudha Krishnan/CBC)
"I was surprised with the cop, when she saw my daughter, that she still issued a ticket," Émond told CBC News. "The police officer was really sure [of] what she was telling me."
The rules on carpooling are laid out in article 295 of the Highway Safety Code, which merely states that reserve lanes are for the exclusive use of road vehicles carrying the number of passengers indicated by signs along that route.
As of April 2017, Transports Québec said, there were 67 carpool lanes in use across the province.
In addition, a spokesperson for Transports Québec is quoted on the CAA-Quebec website as saying there is no age requirement for carpooling.
"In fact, a parent taking a child to daycare is assumed to be carpooling," Transports Québec spokesperson Solène Lemay is quoted as saying on the website.
Émond said she will contest the ticket, and hopes her experience clarifies the rules for others.
competent_nobody on April 9th, 2018 at 19:39 UTC »
You can use an HOV lane if you have at least two people (including the driver)
drownedbubble on April 9th, 2018 at 19:13 UTC »
It frustrates me that she will have to fight it when it’s clearly an invalid ticket.
From the article:
In addition, a spokesperson for Transports Québec is quoted on the CAA-Quebec website as saying there is no age requirement for carpooling.
zekfen on April 9th, 2018 at 18:40 UTC »
Sounds like the cop screwed up in pulling her over and didn’t want to admit it, so made up the drivers license part.
I once received a scare from a motorcycle cop driving in the carpool lane in Atlanta. I look behind me and see a motorcycle cop come up really fast behind me and ride my butt. I look to the right and there is a second motorcycle cop staring in my window at me with a nasty scowl on his face, scared the bejesus out of me. He had seen my young son riding in the backseat. He hesitated for a moment and then rode on off with the other cop following him. I can only assume they didn’t see my son when I passed them and they thought they were gonna get to write a ticket, and the nasty scowl was bc he realized he couldn’t with my son in the back.