Hi guys,

Got into this trouble while travelling to a small town yesterday.

I parked my car on the side of a road and saw the ticket stating the car's within 3m of a fire hydrant. I then took a picture with myself in it, spreading my arms out (about 1.75m), with one hand touch the hydrant. From the picture it's clear that there has to be more than 2 of my arm length between where my car was parked and the fire hydrant, meaning that they were at least 3.5 m apart. In this case, is it likely I could get the charge dropped if I go to court and appeal this? And any heads-ups you guys can think of in regard to this? And also, the officer cannot drop this charge and go for another one right in the court, can he?

Thanks a lot in advance!

And Happy Canada's Day to everyone! (sure I'm gonna enjoy this one after all that....)

It's not likely that the charge will simply be dropped. You'll have to enter a plea of not guilty and fight the ticket if that's what you want. Two arms length isn't a standard unit of measurement.

The picture shows conclusively how far your car was from the hydrant when the picture was taken, not how far it was from the hydrant when the ticket was issued. An unscrupulous person might simply move their car forward a meter or so, and then take a picture to support their defence.

The picture is no "smoking gun".

I remember when an officer gave me a ticket even though I was in the car.. I actually walked out of my car and took a few pictures of the officer standing next to my car and then a few pictures of the officers vehicle for the day with his license plates..the pictures were time stamped too! I was then told by the officer I could take as many pictures as I want but the ticket still stands and I will lose in court. Well I went through the proper procedure to have my pictures entered as evidence and the J. P dropped the charges, said the officer could have asked me to move mycar instead of iissuing me a ticket!

buddy64 wrote:

I then took a picture with myself in it, spreading my arms out (about 1.75m), with one hand touch the hydrant.

I suggest you read the bylaw you were charged with before trying to make any type of defense. Let's just assume they'd take your picture into account and take your word that the car hadn't been moved.

Majority of hydrant bylaws read as followed "...within three (3) metres of the point on the edge of the roadway nearest any fire hydrant". So measuring from the hydrant would already a mistake. Measuring this way would put the distance in your favor.