An Edmonton woman says she’s being forced to go to court and fight a photo radar ticket she received, even though it was issued for a car she doesn’t own.
Michele Friesen said she received the $120 photo radar ticket, showing a car driving 15 kilometres per hour over the posted limit – but it was in an area Friesen said she has never been to, for a car she didn't own.
“I had no idea where that was, I had to look it up because I’ve never been in that area,” Friesen said. The ticket was in the area of Fort Road, between 71 Street and 68 Street.
When Friesen looked closer at the photos on the ticket, she noticed something was amiss.
“The closer I looked at it I found out that it was not my plate, it ended up not even being my vehicle,” Friesen said.
Friesen said she took her photo radar ticket to police who told her the car in the photo was registered in her name.
She made stops at a number of registry locations in Edmonton, where she was instructed to complete a sworn statement saying the vehicle wasn’t hers.
“The registries officer figured that I would have to send this in and that would be enough,” Friesen said.
As it turns out, it wasn’t – Friesen has since been told that she will have to go to court to fight the ticket.
The City of Edmonton issued the ticket, but said the issue is out of their hands.
“Once that ticket is issued, the matter now is before the courts,” Gerry Shimko with the Office of Traffic Safety said.
Service Alberta and Alberta Justice are looking into the matter to see if there could be a possible resolution before Friesen’s court date in December.
With files from Amanda Anderson
