Young gear-heads say they are being unfairly targeted by police
KELOWNA – Several young car enthusiasts in Kelowna say police are forcing them to get vehicle inspections despite passing roadside inspections.
Recently, RCMP in the Okanagan have stepped up their enforcement of traffic laws, but Owen Kuipers, 17, is a first year automotive technician apprentice who says he was unfairly targeted by police because he drives a car that has a reputation for racing.
“It seems like a pattern,” he says. “I think (RCMP) are pulling me over because they don’t like my car.”
His 1989 Nissan Skyline GT-R had just been inspected two months prior to him being pulled over at a check stop on Lequime Road in Kelowna. The officer asked him the usual questions – have you been drinking, do you have a valid licence and insurance – but he went one step further and began a lengthy roadside inspection.
“He kept me there for probably a good hour,” he says. “My car is from out of province so I had a valid (vehicle inspection) sticker on the window. He just didn’t like it and wanted another one. The only thing he could say is that he believed the exhaust had been illegally modified but it hadn’t.”
To make matters worse, the officer issued Kuipers a ticket for driving with a "L-learners" licence after midnight.
“He pulled me over at 11:30 but he sat in his car for a half hour and then issued me a ticket for driving past midnight at 12:02.”
Kuipers says he was able to get that charge thrown out in court and passed his inspection with no issue. But Kuipers isn't the only one to make the claim. Several young drivers with eccentric tastes in vehicles, told Infonews.ca they don't feel comfortable driving their vehicles anymore. They constantly try to avoid police, fearing they'll be stopped over and over again for similar issues. They don't want their names used because they worry it will only make them bigger targets. The irony, they say, is they likely have some of the best maintained vehicles on the road because they work on their cars consistently.
RCMP spokesperson Const. Kris Clark says normally police only order inspections in cases where multiple infractions are noticed.
“If it’s just a simple burnt out headlight then they have 30 days to fix it and come back to us,” he says. “If there are multiple (infractions) then it might need a further inspection to occur.”
Shane O’Leary is a 22-year-old insurance broker. He says he too has been unfairly targeted by police because of his near-stock 1984 Mazda RX7.
“The only reason I don’t have collector plates on it is because I daily it,” he says. “I drive it every single day to work. It’s almost mint.”
Earlier this week he was pulled over by an officer who told him he thought his car “looked old”.
“He did a quick under hood inspection, he went through my brake lights, reverse lights, signal lights. I was able to answer all the questions and there were no issues found on his roadside inspection except for the exhaust. It has a replacement exhaust system on it but it’s not illegal or anything like that. It’s a 30-year-old car so it’s not easy to find a stock exhaust.”
O’Leary says the officer walked back to his car and came back with a box 2 vehicle inspection order and said he had 30 days to get it done.
According to law, if it's not inspected within the time period, a bailiff will seize the plates and the driver is issued a fine of more than $500. An inspection carried out at an automotive shop costs $75 plus tax and puts the drivers at the mercy of the mechanic.
“I have to do it, there’s no way to dispute one of these,” he says. “If it passes a roadside inspection I don’t understand why it would have to go through a full vehicle inspection. It’s so frustrating and it’s happened to a lot more people than just myself.”
Kuipers too questions the legality of targeting drivers just because they are in a car that looks fast.
“I think that our cars, as imports, have a bad name for some reason,” he says. “Maybe they’re just uneducated about our cars. If you were to roll around in a 70s muscle car, cops pull you over just to congratulate you on how nice it is. Roll around in a car like mine and you get the exact opposite response.”
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
Join the Conversation!
Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community? Create a free account to comment on stories, ask questions, and join meaningful discussions on our new site.
24 responses
-
-
they aren’t fix it tickets. they are full vi’s… about 50% of the cars on the road wont pass a vi without needing work and alot of places just tack on things like shocks, brakes, balljoints etc as required to pass without the need for them to actually be done. in addition almost every shop will tack on a 100$ plus alignment right off the top, its not just a 75$ pain in the ass the article makes it out to be.no one would complain if they were fix it tickets but vi’s are out of line if the car has no obvious defects.
-
I’m a 56 year old mother of 2 boys who,in Abbotsford, continually got harassed by police on a regular basis because of their “L” or their “N”. It’s like it gives them a right to harass these kids. And the Female cops were even worse ’cause as you know they somehow have to prove themselves. One issue went to court and the Judge verbally reprimanded the female cop because of her “illegal” actions! hahahaI feelthese particular officers need another talking to about their actions… If they don’t have legitimate reasons for pulling you over (especially if its constant) then I believe you can go to the police station and ask to speak with their superior officer and advise them of the situation.My husband had to do that way back when he was 18 he was being pulled over every week by a particular officer. Fortunately one day he met up with friends in a coffee shop and there was an officer with them having coffee and he mentioned how he was being harassed and can they do this…. the superior officer knew that particular officerand said he would speak with him and my husband was never was stopped again! So unfortunately this is an age old problem but I think as individuals or groups you should just go to the cop shop and speak to their superior…. obviously you should have the particular officers name & badge number.GOOD LUCK!
-
we have issues with road shows in my neighborhood and I for one will call and report them at the first revving of engines and squeal of tires… they have no respect for life , a neighborhood or the rules of the road.
-
I guess it also depends on what kind of a problem they have with street racers.. and how often and what kinds of cars run from and allude them when they are seen.. if I were a cop I would be checking for nitrous systems.. I know enough guys in souped up cars that even if they are not always racing they will race at the drop of a hat.
-
Wouldn’t it be nice ifthe police would congratulate these car owners for working on their carsand maintaining and improving them and learning how to do things themselves.Instead of inspection tickets maybe talking to them about their cars, they may learn and understand that these people are not bad. That they are nice people with a passion. We all have some passion that we pursueThis is their hobby We all need something to keep our mind sane.It is a social thing for these people. They learn fromeach other. We are so involved with electronics ie: I pads, I phones It is great seeing them working on things with their hands and learning…It usually keeps them out of the bars and acting like fools. There are certain vehicles that should not be on the road and those cars a very obvious. Doesn’t mean that they are all young drivers. I have seen some senior vehicles that are pretty banged up.
-
As I was growing up my friends and I always worked on cars out front our houses and people used to complain that we were noisy or the we were punks who were into cars. Neither me or my parents ever understood. In a world that has so many problems with kids/people who are jobless, drugged out “actual punks”. My friends and I were using a self expression, getting jobs as well as being constructive all to be apart of this passion. Yet we are treated like criminals.Always interested me that jdm cars always got hit hard for vi’s because they need an inspection to be insured. Remember as a N holder it being so bad that I would not display it(not to be defiant) and I never got pulled over.Put it on an got pulled over right away.Tell me that’s not profiling.There was no way I was driving worse. To me the N/L program was to tell others there learning.aka give then more slack/space.
-
I agree with another comment on here – seems odd that police have the authority to inspect a vehicle, aside from obvious things like burnt-out lights or something. I suspect these cars attract the stink-eye because of street racing. I’m not saying these younger people are at all guilty of street racing – it’s just unfortunate that the guilty folks who do race ruin it for everyone. Not everyone with a hot car races it.
-
always record police interactions…a video of this would go viral and a backlash would occur.
-
Surely there must be almost zero real crimes being committed. Because if the officers have this much free time to harass law abiding citizens, They must have everything else covered.
-
Perhaps having really loud “legal” exhaust systems attracts police. They are irritating and should be pulled off the street. Maybe a ticket for noise violation would be better?
-
They give VI’s out to imports all the time but how often do you think they pick on lifted trucks? Neverrrrr
-
just goes to show that police aren’t as smart as the general public thinks. I was pulled over many times in my miata just because it had a wide body kit and a loud exhaust. theyre fuckin dumb, or if your car “looks fast” show em haha they can only hit 170 :P
-
these cops get away with it time and time again,. here in kamloops there’s a bitch cop doing the same thing to 4X4’s…they think they are immune…though its illegal profiling…take the bastards to civil court, [not many know this can be done] but sue them in the private…meaning sue them as private men and woman-use thier name not thier government position.
-
The car community is exploding, the police need to get with it and stop targeting us. Most of these cars are heavily modded yes, but they are safer then some of the cars your average joe drives…. Its illegal to have a cracked tail light, but you see so many normal cars with them.If it was a modded car pulled over almost instantly.
-
we work on these cars day in and day out they are in top running condition and the body work we do our best to fix up and look good. just like some one working on a nova or charger etc, heck a truck even. but nope were tuners all we do is race, cant drive one just because we like the style of it.
-
yea we used to get pulled over in Smithers BC of all places and would have our plates run to see if we had any tickets, some times they wouldn’t even leave there cars. we are harassedon the daily. we don’t build big trucks, or muscle cars we like the stance scene that japan has started. over there they love it you can do so much to your car and they don’t have an issue just like us and classic cars. so why is it when I see people rolling coal and drinking and driving every weekend in there massive truck cause they got back from camp and I cant even go get groceries with out the fear my car is going to get pulled over. its gotten to the point where I don’t even want to drive it. this has to stop. its almost as if there jealous what did you wife or girl break her neck when I drove by and went that’s a cool car……
-
This happens to me on my motorcycle all the time. Just because I drive a fast bike with a lot of power and I have body armour all over me I get pulled over because they think I’m a racer. Every single time, it’s “Do you know how fast you were going?” AND THE ANSWER IS YES, BECAUSE I HAVE A SPEEDLOGGER ON MY GODDAMN BIKE. Three times in a row I have been issued tickets, and the speed logging computer on my bike has 4o minutes of records with me not once going over the speed limit. It’s a giant load of BS every time.
-
No bullshit here.. I have seen it first hand more than a few times.To the point kids are selling the cars they love in order to hang on to what little cash they have instead of spending it on bullshit tickets and inspections.. The N license system is just another way of raping people for more money..THEY ARE BEING TARGETED. Police officers with nothing better to do than hassle kids that drive Miatas, Mazdas, Old beamersetc..Its a real joke… If they spent the same amount of time lurking for the loose perverts luring kids we would not be hearing about them so often.
-
-
It is more likely that they are targeting people with money because we are no longer just people. We are now just revenue sources. Any young person that looks like they have some money, but not enough money for a high priced lawyer that would get the cop in trouble are prime targets…. Welcome to the new world of gouging the public….
-
No, It’s not. I work at an inspection facility and some of the cars issued VI’s are basically mint and are only targeted because they are older or professionally modified. It’s absurd that we can’t take a beater with serious safety concerns off the road when we notice problems at the shop but these guys get tickets all day long for driving some of the best maintained cars on the road.
-
I smell B.S. here. If these vehicles are targeted, it’s because of modified pipes or $10,000 stereos heard blocks away.
-
athe cops and gov wonder why people like me are choosing to remove ourselves from government contracts such as a dl…there is no law requireing a man to have a dl…traveling is a right not a privlage…
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.