A Winnipeg man hit with a $391 photo radar ticket plans to take his case to court because he claims the picture on the ticket doesn’t match the neighbourhood where police allege the infraction happened.
Terry Gurney got the ticket in the mail for going 56 km/h in a 30 km/h school zone on Panet Road near Munroe Avenue.
Gurney said he discovered a difference between the photo and the neighbourhood when he returned to the area after getting the ticket.
"The picture does not match the zone, where they say I was going through the school zone,” said Gurney. “So I don't know where that picture's taken."
"There isn’t a two-storey building on this whole section here and they got a two-storey building in that picture. They're trying to get $400 out of me and it doesn't match up."
Another driver, Sandra MacCoy, said the same thing happened to her on Panet Road as well.
MacCoy doesn’t believe the photo on her ticket matches the area and also plans to take her case to court.
"If I deserve it, I'm going to pay it,” said MacCoy. “But it doesn't make sense. It's so off—the ticket."
But Len Eastoe of Traffic Ticket Experts doesn't expect their argument to hold up in court.
"What happens is the officer who was there taking the picture that day and recording the speed comes to court and better describes where it took place,” said Eastoe. “And that usually is acceptable to the court."
Eastoe said the ticket is valid as long as it states the infraction happened in the City of Winnipeg and Province of Manitoba.
Gurney said he still plans to fight the ticket because he thinks the photo simply does not fit the crime.
"You don't send someone a fine for $391 with a bogus picture on there."
