Joey Menscik thinks he was pulled over because of the Ontario license plate of his car

Mar 11, 2014 09:41 GMT  ·  By

Not everybody is born to be a driver, they say. But what happens when you are a good driver, but you drive a car with an Ontario license plate in Quebec? Well, a man found out the answer when he got three separate traffic tickets within minutes.

Joey Menscik and Caroline Guy were driving from Ontario, Canada to Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, when they were pulled over three times and given just as many fines.

The couple, who has homes in both Ontario and Quebec, says they feel they were targeted for driving a car which had an Ontario license plate.

Menscik and his wife were driving east on Hochelaga Street on Thursday when they were pulled over the first time by an unmarked police car. They were just a few blocks away from the stadium.

The officer fined them for the illegally tinted windows of their vehicle.

“He gives me this ticket for $162 (€105). So I say ‘Why is that?’ and he says in Quebec we're not allowed tinted windows,” Menscik said.

Caroline affirms she was pulled over a few years ago for the same reason, but in that occasion, the officer was more understanding and issued only a warning to have the tint removed.

Montreal police officials say that when people drive their vehicle in another jurisdiction, they should be aware of the rules and regulations that apply there and they should conform to them.

After the first incident, the couple drove away only a few blocks and they were stopped again. A different traffic officer told Menscik he coasted through a stop sign and slapped him with a second $162 (€105) ticket.

Only one block away, the same officer stopped them again for supposedly passing through another stop sign and gave them a third ticket.

“We see the cop car coming up behind us again, and I said, ‘Surely it can’t be for us again,’” Guy told the Global News.

Menscik and Guy say they respected all the traffic signs in the area and they consider the officers had no reason to issue the tickets, so they plan to contest them.

Sergeant Laurent Gingras of the Montreal police department denies the couple were targeted for being from Ontario and advises them to file a complaint.

“I suggest to these people that they should contest their ticket and the court will decide who’s right. If you obey the laws, obey the by-laws, you shouldn’t have a problem,” Gingras said.