There are many fears in driving through the U.S. South. One fear that probably didn't cross your mind would be if your Canadian drivers licence was not considered to be a real licence.
Emily Nield felt that fear as she was stopped for speeding in Cook County in Georgia.
Nield was charged with doing 87 mph in a 70 mph zone, a 17-mile (27.2-km) difference. Nield wasn't handcuffed and taken to a police station because of speeding. The officer decided on the spot that her Ontario drivers licence wasn't legal.
Reports noted that Georgia law allows for officers to check a person's passport or visa to prove validity of the licence. According to Nield, that wasn't relevant because the officer didn't consider the licence to be valid.
Nield said police told her unless she paid $880 in bond money in cash, she would remain in jail until her court appearance.
There was also reportedly an issue as to whether Nield was temporarily living in Tennessee. If the issue was that Nield should have a Tennessee licence, that could be a charge. However, she wasn't arrested for that reason. She was arrested for not having a licence since the Ontario licence wasn't considered to be valid in Georgia.
The charges should be dismissed in due course.
What is almost as bizarre is that Cook County's insistence that everything is now fine. After Cook County officials met with Canadian Consul General Nadia Theodore, a release was issued.
"As a result of the meeting, Cook County officials assured Canadian travellers that Georgia is open for business, their citizens would be treated with respect, due process would be afforded to its citizens, and any non-citizen who is arrested would be able to contact their regional consulate."
The "open for business" part was always true, which is part of why people get pulled over. None of those factors applied to Nield as she was arrested. No one has said "sorry." No one has been punished for a very incorrect call.
So what should you do if you get caught driving Canadian in the United States?
- You should be traveling with your passport in a foreign country. A passport might have helped Nield but having it will help you.
- You should point out that Americans can drive in Canada with a U.S. drivers licence. I've driven in 5 provinces with an American drivers licence.
- Having a consulate or embassy on speed dial and insist upon (politely) the right to call them.
- Have a way to record video of yourself in the moment. That helped Nield in her moment.
- Don't speed in any way shape or form.
Good luck in driving in the United States.
CanadianCrossing.com border crossings coverage
Emily Nield isn't the only Canadian running into trouble in the United States. This story goes back to April 2017 but only came out recently. Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science, and economic development, was leaving Detroit after a business trip to go back to Toronto.
At least 2 different security personnel wanted Bains to remove his turban as part of the security process. The second incident happened 20 minutes before the plane was supposed to take off.
U.S. policy allows Sikhs to keep turbans on during the security inspection process.
Only after the second time and when pressed for name and identification, Bains did present his diplomatic passport. Bains was allowed to board the plane.
Bains actually received an apology from the U.S. government.
The point in both stories is that people in that position of power are supposed to know the laws that they are enforcing. The Cook County officer in Georgia should know that Canadian drivers licences are valid in the state. Security officers should know the rules about turbans. In these cases, they either didn't know the law or deliberately violated the law.
photo credit: Ontario Ministry of Transportation
video credit: YouTube/Toronto Star
Comments