A Nanaimo senior caught excessively speeding says officers should exercise their discretion when they impound vehicles, but the RCMP say there乌鸦传媒檚 no grey area there.

Penny Hamilton, 71, said her vehicle shouldn乌鸦传媒檛 have been taken away after she was pulled over going 120 kilometres per hour in an 70km/h zone in Ladysmith this past Saturday. Hamilton and her husband were on an errand to Duncan when she says she sped up to pass a car being driven erratically and a truck in front of it.

乌鸦传媒淚 agreed with the officer, I乌鸦传媒檓 sorry, I was speeding, I was trying to get past the little black car and the chipper truck, I didn乌鸦传媒檛 see the sign where it says 70,乌鸦传媒� she said.

Hamilton didn乌鸦传媒檛 take issue with the speeding ticket, she said, but was shocked when she was told that her car was being towed and impounded for seven days and that she, her husband and their dog would need to arrange their own ride home.

Hamilton said with the ticket, fine, impound fee, cost of a rental car and effect on her insurance, 乌鸦传媒淚 added it all up, it乌鸦传媒檚 going to cost us $2,800 for a traffic infraction. I don乌鸦传媒檛 believe it.乌鸦传媒�

She said she乌鸦传媒檚 never had a speeding ticket and added that she wasn乌鸦传媒檛 unco-operative during the traffic stop.

乌鸦传媒淚 was a commercial fisherman; I would use the F word and I swear, I did not use it. I was polite, I was courteous, I did what I was told,乌鸦传媒� she said.

Cpl. Mike Halskov, spokesman for B.C. RCMP Traffic Services, said police 乌鸦传媒渁bsolutely cannot乌鸦传媒� use their discretion in instances of excessive speeding, adding that the Motor Vehicle Act, Road Safety B.C. and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure are 乌鸦传媒渧ery, very clear乌鸦传媒� on that piece of legislation.

He said an officer conducting laser speed enforcement sees a vehicle, not the person driving.

乌鸦传媒淚n this particular case, unfortunately it was an older person that got pulled over for excessive speed, and it happened to occur during a month when we乌鸦传媒檙e conducting a high-risk driving campaign,乌鸦传媒� Halskov said. 乌鸦传媒淓xcessive speed is one of the things that we乌鸦传媒檙e out there enforcing heavily this month, as always.乌鸦传媒�

Hamilton said she has already begun a process to dispute her ticket. She said some people offered to give her money, but she refused them.

乌鸦传媒淚 wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 take money from anybody. We乌鸦传媒檙e using our Visa, that乌鸦传媒檚 what we乌鸦传媒檙e doing,乌鸦传媒� she said.

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