I reside in British Columbia and have B.C. plates and insurance. We were vacationing in Lethbridge, Alta., and after we got back home, I got an Alberta speeding ticket in the mail. Are they allowed to ticket me as I have B.C. plates? Will it affect my insurance? What happens if I don’t pay it? – Kate
If you are caught speeding on camera in another province, don’t expect to stay under the radar.
But smile – photo tickets won’t increase your insurance rates anywhere, police said.
“Photo radar tickets can be issued to out-of-province drivers, including U.S. residents,” Kristen Saturley, a Lethbridge police spokeswoman, said in an email. “The same authorities that apply when an officer conducts a physical traffic stop involving an out-of-province driver also apply to the issuance of photo-radar tickets.”
In other words, if you break any traffic law while driving in another province – whether you are caught by a cop or a camera – you could get a ticket.
There is one difference with photo enforcement tickets, including photo radar and red light cameras. While police officers hand regular speeding tickets to the driver, photo enforcement tickets are sent in the mail to the car’s registered owner.
They come with a photo of your car’s licence plate along with details about where and when the car was speeding – and by how much.
So, if a friend or relative took your car for a spin and got a ticket, you are still on the hook for the fine.
But, because they can’t prove you were driving, they don’t come with demerit points and they don’t end up on your driving record, Saturley said. That means they won’t negatively affect your insurance rate.
Nevertheless, photo-enforcement tickets warrant the same fines and payment requirements as other tickets. As with regular tickets, you can decide to dispute them, Saturley said.
“Payment options and the dispute process are outlined on the back of every photo radar ticket,” she said. “[They] apply to both Alberta and out-of-province drivers.”
If you don’t dispute the ticket or if your dispute isn’t successful, you will have to pay it.
“Overdue tickets are charged a late fee if the ticket isn’t paid by the due date and it could eventually be transferred to the Fines Enforcement Program for collection,” Alberta’s Ministry of Transportation said in an email.
The province said the number of tickets issued to out-of-province drivers wasn’t immediately available.
Saturley said Lethbridge police don’t track how many tickets are issued to out-of-province drivers, “but, anecdotally, the ratio of out-of-province tickets compared to tickets issued to Alberta drivers is very low.”
Taxing consequences
While rules vary by province, generally, out-of-province drivers are responsible for paying any ticket they get in another province.
So, what happens if you don’t pay the ticket?
Some of the province’s collection tools – such as not letting you register your vehicle or renew your driver’s licence until you’ve paid your fines – only work for drivers in that province, the ministry said.
So, if you have an unpaid ticket in Alberta, you’ll still be able to register your vehicle in your home province.
But, just like an Alberta resident with unpaid traffic tickets, you could be hit at tax time.
Alberta, like most other provinces, can deduct unpaid traffic fines out of your federal tax refund and GST credits through the Canada Revenue Agency’s refund set-off program that was established about 20 years ago to recover funds on outstanding debts owed to the federal, provincial and territorial governments.
That includes fines from photo enforcement and it applies to out-of-province tickets.
If you are supposed to be getting a $1,000 refund but owe $800 in unpaid fines, you’d only get $200 back.
Have a driving question? Send it to globedrive@globeandmail.com and put ‘Driving Concerns’ in your subject line. Emails without the correct subject line may not be answered. Canada’s a big place, so let us know where you are so we can find the answer for your city and province.
Jason Tchir