MVA 144(1)(b)
 

ok so here is the story.

monday i was returning from my grandmothers funeral reception at my parents house (a 4 minute drive) with my gf and my dog, a 5 lbs pomeranian. i was not in the best of moods for obvious reasons and neither was my dog. she is not fond of large groups of people all groping her because of her cuteness. i was driving on curtis in burnaby and my dog just would not shut up while my gf was holding her, she just kept on wining so i caved and literally for the first time ever (i know, you may not beleive me but it's true) i let my dog sit on my lap as i drove simply because she instantly calms down when i hold her. now i actually took into acount at this point that having a dog on a drivers lap is not the best idea but again i was not in the mood to have a whinning dog in the background. what i actually did was sit her on my lap and slide her under my seat belt so that she could not fidget. low and behold i came over a crest and bam there was a cop doing what i would assume was seatbelt or cellphone checks. she saw the dog and reemed me out for basically risking the dogs life. she said that an accident can happen at any moment and that airbags come out at 150mph, and that if that happened my dog would be dead. (she was fine with my gf holding my dog as i drove off eventhough there is a passenger airbag???) and to top things off my dog was sitting on my lap and i wasn't actually holding her. i actually had both hands on the wheel while she sat sorta in between and under the lap belt. i would argue safer to drive the way i was then to eat and drive and i would never have let her on my lap if she would have fidgeted or anything. either way i don't really care about the 196 dollars but the damn 6 points are stupid. do i have any case to dispute this ticket?

mva144(1)(b)
(1) A person must not drive a motor vehicle on a highway
(b) without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway

edit: i guess i could also mention that i was in a school zone (4:30pm) and driving ~35 (not sure if that helps, as i was following the speed regulations, or hinders because i was in a school zone)



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/...833fa75a_o.jpg

Not to be mean or anything, but one of the things I hate the most is seeing people driving with their dogs on their laps or holding them. It's dangerous and I think the dogs should actually be in the back and not the front anywhere (for their safety due to airbags). Anyways, you don't really have a case. You're driving without reasonable consideration because what happens if your dog gets startled and starts moving on your lap? That might startle you and cause you to lose control of your vehicle. You can argue all you want to the judge that your dog was calm and stuff but just having the dog on your lap indicates that you did not do everything you can to ensure that you will not be distracted as there is always that variable there which is something you can control. That's just my view and I think everyone who holds their dog or lets their dog sit on their lap when driving should be ticketed.

Sorry but you have absolutely no defence from what you have stated.

Your girlfriend, or the dog? :haha:

Here's an idea... leave the dog at home. The Pomeranian, that is. Why do people see the need to take stupid dogs in the car? If you need to... in a cage in the back seat. Or in a caged section in the hatch, like my dog. No way I'm going to let my 70 pound dog loose in the rest of the car... last thing I need is a distraction while driving that will net me a fine and points (oh, wait... ;) )

Writing under this section is justified, and it is possible to obtain a conviction, but I would bet that it is less likely than obtaining a conviction under section 195:

Requirements for moving vehicle

195 (1) A person must not cause a vehicle to move on a highway if

(a) the control of the driver over the driving mechanism of the vehicle, or

(b) the view of the driver to the front or sides of the vehicle

is obstructed.

If you decide to dispute you could choose to try and make a deal with the officer to plead guilty to this instead.

thats perfect. thanks skidmark. i was looking through the mva looking for something to try and get a reduced fine.

fwiw dog went with me to the reception SPECIFICALLY because she makes my grandfather extremely happy.

and there is a big difference between a 5lb dog loose on the front seat and a 70lb dog loose in any part of a car. i can flick my dog away from me if need be with a single finger. good luck doing that with your dog. oh and in the event of a crash, your dog will end up just as dead in the caged hatch as mine would getting hit by an airbag (if you were refering also to the dog's safety)

I agree with Skidmark. I wouldn't have necessarily given the Without due consideration ticket either.

However, placing the dog between you and the seatbelt places the dog at considerable risk in case of a collision. I'm assuming that because the seatbelt was tight enough to control the dog's squirming, it was tight enough to crush it as your body pressed itself against the seatbelt. I personally am not the biggest fan of small dogs, but crushing one between myself and a seatbelt isn't how i picture ridding the world of them. ;)

I put drivers with small dogs on their laps into the same "idiot with a DL catagory" as riders (almost always parents) who let small kids ride on the gas tank of motorcycles ahead of the rider. When Issuing them a ticket (and calling Social services on one occasion) I always asked them..."in an emergency are you going to control the motorcycle...or drop your kid?...because you can't do both. Chances are that you will crash the bike while trying to control it anyway". I have 2 small dogs and they ride in travel kennels belted into the back seats. I value them too much to kill or injure them.

Uhh.. no. My dog is in the rear hatch with a tethered harness.

Yours is a projectile.

I think the real problem here is that the dog is possessed.

THAT is scary...that sucker could rip off your little toe in a second !!! Anybody seen the Dog Whisperer????

had my court date this afternoon.

result:
ticket was amended to mva 195(1)(a) fine was reduced from 196 to 109 and from 6 points down to 3.

the judge would have reduced my fine further had i not had so many previous speeding violations.

wow, don't see updates like this that often. :p

dispute the ticket man!

i got my court hearing the other week and they dropped 1 out of the 2 charges which reduced my fine from $218 to $75 and no points against me. Plus, if the police cop didn't show up, the offence will be automatically dropped! xD

you're not that bright are you....perhaps try reading a few posts above you.