BOYLE —An Alberta Justice fined an Edmonton man on principle for failing to slow down for a stopped emergency vehicle in order to highlight the dangers posed to police officers, emergency responders, tow truck drivers and the like when working alongside roadways.
Cory Dowhan pleaded guilty to one count of passing an emergency vehicle with its lights flashing in Boyle Court of Justice Aug. 13.
“Guilty — I was speeding, I forgot,” said Dowhan when asked by Justice Robert Shaigec what his response to the charge was.
The incident took place near the hamlet of Wandering River on April 11 of this year.
“I was driving home from work, I was on shift so I was headed from Fort Mac to Edmonton,” Dowhan told the justice. “I had the vehicle on cruise control, kind of just coasting.”
Dowhan was clocked travelling at 120 kilometres per hour when passing the police officer on his commute back to the city.
The driver said he did see the officer’s vehicle pulled to the right-hand shoulder of the roadway but moved over into the opposing lane instead of hitting the brakes.
“I just forgot to slow down, I wasn’t thinking,” he said.
The Edmontonian said he was hoping for leniency with regards to demerits, noting the charge was the first of its kind on his driving record.
Though penalties to Dowhan’s record were beyond Shaigec’s purview, he did reduce the fine imposed from Crown prosecutor Taylor Noble’s ask of $350.
“I accept your explanation,” said Shaigec. “It’s not that you weren’t paying attention, it’s that your brain wasn’t working properly.”
“I also accept that you live in Edmonton, you work in Fort McMurray, you had to come back to Boyle to deal with this, which itself is a big commitment on your part.”
While he lowered the imposed fine to $300, the Justice upheld the financial penalty based on principle: “The danger created to law enforcement when they’re stopped on the side of a major highway doing their job, it’s a big danger.”
“The danger is usually created by people like you and I, just good people that are driving but not paying 100 per cent attention, and we all do that,” added Shaigec. “There is that tiny, tiny chance that something horrendous can happen to people that are just doing their jobs.”
Along with the fine, Dowhan received three demerits on his records, and will have until Oct. 31 to pay.