General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCanadian woman arrested in Georgia for legally driving with Canadian license
She was pulled over, had all the legal documents she needed, but was arrested anyways. She was taken to jail, given a mug shot and put into an orange jumpsuit. She was denied her legal right to contact the Canadian consulate, and told if she didn't make bail she would remain jailed for three months. After more than a thousand dollars in bail, fees, and impound costs, she was released. She has since gotten her money back but that's it.
Fucking stupid, fascist, Nazi, porkchopping PIGS!
MyOwnPeace
(16,939 posts)a movie, right?
It didn't really happen here in the US, did it?
O-M-G!!!!!!!!!!!
What have we become?
Seriously, is it time to consider moving to another country - give it all up to the "deplorables?"
Our HOPE has to be in MAGA (Mueller Ain't Going Away).
I know, that's only a start, but, a walk of a thousand miles begins with the first step!
kentuck
(111,110 posts)....and Florida tags on a yellow Camaro.
onethatcares
(16,188 posts)is that you????
dchill
(38,546 posts)But he got arrested, too!
onethatcares
(16,188 posts)Bert.
Was just messin round.
helmedon1974
(92 posts)MineralMan
(146,333 posts)Canadia? Where the heck is that? You some kind of illegal immigrant? Y'all are under arrest, girly.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,121 posts)Grins
(7,234 posts)Stopped by a cop/sheriff in Orange County, CA. Cop had him arrested him because he thought his driver's license was a fake.
Fake? Yelled at the driver because "There is no state of WEST Virginia!!" A real Colombo, that one.
Worse - a soon-arriving Sgt. was just as ignorant. The second Sgt. to come on the scene looked at the other two in disbelief.
robbob
(3,538 posts)To the place
I was born
WEST VIRGINIA (You dumb ass motherf***er)!
Mountain momma
Take me home, country road...
dsc
(52,166 posts)IronLionZion
(45,540 posts)can't argue with John Denver
robbob
(3,538 posts)🤔
dsc
(52,166 posts)the part that 77 runs through and which has Roanoke.
robbob
(3,538 posts)...just kidding! My remark was semi-facetious. But, as a Canadian who rarely wanders south of Boston, thank you for the geography lesson!
rsdsharp
(9,205 posts)I managed a jewelry store in Cedar Falls Iowa, which was owned by Gordon's Jewelry out of Houston, Texas, then the second largest jewelry company in the country -- behind Zales. One day I sold an engagement ring, but we only had it in stock in yellow gold, and the bride-to-be wanted white. I called the home office in Houston to order the new ring, and everything went well until she asked where to send it.
I told her, "Store 50538 in Cedar Falls, Iowa."
She said, "We ain't got no store in Ohio."
"No," I said. "Iowa."
"We ain't got no store in Idaho, neither."
"Iowa. I-O-W-A. Iowa. Store 50538. Look it up."
She stood her ground: "There ain't no such state as Iowa."
A long, gobsmacked pause ensued on my part, followed by a demand that she get "Mr. Danny," head of the division, on the line. What followed was an ass chewing for the ages (hers, not mine).
In fairness, she might have come by her ignorance honestly. I know a guy who was hired to teach world history at a high school in Texas. He classroom had one map.
Of Texas.
DURHAM D
(32,611 posts)MontanaMama
(23,337 posts)Just wow. When I clicked on this I thought for sure I'd be reading about a Canadian person of color arrested for driving while black. Thankfully that was not the case. But now you can't even drive as a Canadian citizen in this country? What is happening? this young woman seems remarkably calm and self possessed in this video. I'm not sure I would be so charitable.
DFW
(54,445 posts)But only in those states where the cops have heard of Canada.
As a contrast, about 30 years ago, my brother-in-law, in international demand as an electro-technician, was called to Texas for some emergency repair job. His plane was late, and he rented a car and drove through the night to be at his appointment in the morning. Being German, he forgot about speed limits on the empty highway, and was soon pulled over by a Texas cop, who asked for his driver's license. My brother-in-law handed him his German driver's license, and the Texas cop reacted as if he had seen a unicorn. Full of excitement and wonder, he radioed in, "It's a German!"
After giving up on trying to decipher the German driver's license, he admonished my brother-in-law by saying "This is not the Autobahn!" and let him go with a warning.
What a difference 30 years and a Trump can make, right?
iluvtennis
(19,876 posts)DFW
(54,445 posts)She was visiting a girlfriend in northern Vermont, who had a place across the border in Québec that she wanted to go to for lunch. So, they drove the 15 minutes to the restaurant and had lunch.
On the way back, the US CBP officer looked at her passport, and was too stupid to find the most recent entry stamp. This was in August, and my wife had entered the USA with me in July, so well under the 90 day limit. But she had come often to the USA, and the careless US authorities just stamp her entries over other entries. The idiot CPB guy asked her when she was flying back to Germany, and she truthfully said August 13th. She had also entered the USA for 6 days for our nephew's college graduation on May 12th. The CPB guy said she was overstaying her limit by a day. Far more able to think on her feet than the CBP uniform, my wife told him, "of course, you're right. When I fly home, I land on the 13th from an overnight flight, but the flight always leaves the USA the day before, so you are quite right, I will be leaving on the 12th." The jerk said, ah, that's better, and let her go back to Vermont. When she got back, she looked through her passport, and sure enough, the July entry stamp was there plain and legible. The CPB idiot was just too lazy to look for it, and he could just as easily have arrested her for immigration violation. I would have sued for false arrest and probably won, as the claim that she had no July entry stamp in her passport was false, but it would have been a Pyrrhic victory. If she had been arrested or something THAT stupid, she would never have set foot in the USA again. Thank goodness Obama was still president. Had it happened today, she might still be rotting in some jail in Vermont somewhere. Once again, this summer, she will come with me to Cape Cod, but will not set foot outside Massachusetts, and will fly home from there.
Grins
(7,234 posts)I remember being in extreme northern VT, in a VERY SMALL town where there was a small ferry to Canada for those who worked in Canada or just wanted to visit and vice-versa. Saw the Customs sign and asked what it was for.
Station clerk told me the crossing was too small to have a permanent Customs/Border patrol officer or office, so it was the obligation of those on the ferry when they arrived in the U.S. to pick up the phone on arrival and announce their arrival. Same when they went to Canada. So many times the same people calling every day it was, "Hi (name). It's (name). I will be leaving on the 4:00PM ferry. Go Habs!"
Done. No muss, no fuss. And it worked.
Wednesdays
(17,412 posts)they assumed a Canadian driver's license was not valid in the U.S. Probably thinking it's the same as Canadian money being invalid in the U.S.
MontanaMama
(23,337 posts)I guess you're right. We've headed back 30 years at least. Scary times.
aggiesal
(8,924 posts)Idiocracy!!!
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Why "thankfully" ?
MontanaMama
(23,337 posts)example of a POC being harassed by the police for just being and it seems that those events are escalating in both number and severity. That said, this arrest is also terrible but for different reasons. So I am thankful that this event was not the former and Im thankful nobody died because that is often the result.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)It seems like this story is pretty terrible regardless (as you point out).
d_r
(6,907 posts)This was probably that stretch between tifton and valdosta it is speed trap alley.
Edit she is going to get another slap in the face when they mail her another ticket for being a super speeder 10 miles over, $200 more to the state of georgia.
iscooterliberally
(2,863 posts)The super-speeder law is like double-jeopardy. I hired a local lawyer to represent me on that ticket. I got it beat back down and had to pay a fine, but they buried the whole thing so I wouldn't get any points. The entire state of GA is a speed trap. Beware!
woodsprite
(11,927 posts)When it's their turn to drive, everyone sets the cruise control about 2-3mph below the actual speed limit.
snowybirdie
(5,240 posts)Driving I75 on Saturday!
iscooterliberally
(2,863 posts)They're completely unmarked. If you take the by-pass around Macon, that's where I got my ticket. I also got one on I-95 just north of the FL-GA state line, but that one was 20 years ago. Stay safe!
d_r
(6,907 posts)jambo101
(797 posts)And its stories like this that keep me from traveling in America anymore.
sl8
(13,901 posts)'It was the most horrendous incident of my life,' says 27-year-old grad student
Makda Ghebreslassie · CBC News · Posted: May 07, 2018 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 5 hours ago
Emily Nield says a Georgia police officer arrested her for driving with an Ontario licence in the U.S. (Richard Agecoutay/CBC)
An Ontario woman is looking for an apology from the Georgia police officer who arrested, handcuffed and charged her because she was driving with a Canadian licence.
"It was the most horrendous incident of my life," said Emily Nield. "It was mortifying. I was terrified the entire time."
About a month ago, the 27-year-old was driving through Georgia to Tennessee, where she had just completed a master's degree in geology. Nield's route took her along the I-75, which is often used by Canadians making the trek to and from Florida.
...
More at link.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,045 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,212 posts)She was arrested in Tennessee for smuggling books, but they couldn't prove it.
DFW
(54,445 posts)Poor Raymond Chrétien. But: even poorer us.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Numbers down since we elected Trump, of course.
Georgia's not the only state dangerous to drive, though. Many governing bodies all over the nation are preying on their own residents, as well as passers-through, to get money to meet their bills. "Cutting the fat" has been going on 45 years now, causing serious problems. One of the most insidious for sure is that it is causing authorities to come to view citizens as potential "criminals with checkbooks," so that anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time can become a victim of armed robbery by government.
Creeping fascism, anyone?
procon
(15,805 posts)and sports fans. Idiots.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,045 posts)https://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/tourism-u-s-down-trump-took-office-costing-4-6-n840326
Tourism to U.S. under Trump is down, costing $4.6B and 40,000 jobs
by Ben Popken / Jan.23.2018
The latest data shows a 3.3 percent drop in travel spending and a 4 percent decline in inbound travel.
The downturn has also caused America to lose its spot as the world's second-most popular destination for foreign travel, ceding to Spain. (France is in first place).
International tourism to the U.S. began to wane after Trump took office, leading to a so-called "Trump slump."
PatrickforO
(14,592 posts)And if I did, I certainly would stay away from the rural deep South, which is the butthole of this country, pretty much.
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)Glorfindel
(9,736 posts)Each of those counties has a sheriff and several deputies. Also, each county has at least one, and much more often, six or eight incorporated "cities," each with its own police force. And then there's the Georgia State Patrol. You could easily be stopped ten times on a 100-mile trip. Since moving back to Georgia from Mississippi, I have given up driving except for the back roads of my extended family's properties. It's just not worth the hassle.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)just to send a message.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,045 posts)geardaddy
(24,931 posts)That is better.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,344 posts)robbob
(3,538 posts)And my heartfelt condolences for all the dumb racist ignorant idiots you folks have to put up with.
(P.s. we have plenty of those here in Canada, too)
helmedon1974
(92 posts)DBoon
(22,397 posts)let them know what real coffee and donuts taste like
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)Put out Interpol warrants at the same time. Make that Nazi fuck a prisoner in his own state.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)find their way to Canada? It would probably be the good ones.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)onethatcares
(16,188 posts)and going to school, I was told that one of the things that separated Americans from thos dastardly commies was the ability to travel between states without having to show our papers.
Apparently we've gone over to the dark side.
TheFrenchRazor
(2,116 posts)cojoel
(958 posts)Soon we will all have to speak Russian.
erronis
(15,355 posts)someone from another country that doesn't understand what a horrible place this one is.
For someone who has lived a lot of my life around Wash DC I know there are "jurisdictions" where certain people don't feel comfortable.
I'm white and didn't feel comfortable in parts of DC and surroundings for a while, but now I trust these areas more than I trust the Fairfax/McLean/PrinceWilliam police.
Georgia and most of the deep south have their inbred hostility to "others". Places that are in transition have another set of problems such as gentrification and displacement.
George II
(67,782 posts)trixie2
(905 posts)I drive in Ontario all the time. Never had a problem. In the greater Detroit area you see Ontario plates all time. In Ontario you see US plates all the time. Ontario is just right across the Detroit River and we come and go to each other's events.
Who hasn't cut through our neighbors yard to get to the east coast quicker?
This story is crazy.
George II
(67,782 posts)In past years I've driven across NYS into Ontario, across Southern Ontario into Michigan, stay a few days and then head back up to Toronto for a few days.
The last couple of years, though, I thought it might look "suspicious" leaving the US twice, so I've driven around Lake Erie. Even so I'm sure it raises eyebrows entering Canada at Port Huron / Sarnia and then a few days later crossing at Niagara Falls.
trixie2
(905 posts)We have gone to Windsor many times in the same week. Many people work in one country and live in the other and have a special bridge/tunnel pass. Many Americans have cottages in Canada. I notice the traffic is heavier when one country dollar is weaker. Right now going to Windsor is money saving for us in Michigan. There have been times when the opposite was true. Both Detroit and Windsor have casinos and both have a high level of boat owners too.
Canada is like your best neighbor where you can borrow a cup of sugar. I have been to Manitoulin Island year after year growing up. We stayed in Little Current with car loads of neighbors and relatives. I love Stratford, Toronto, and skiing at Blue Mountain. Just popping over to Windsor for an evening of food and sitting on the river with a different view is lovely.
Response to Downtown Hound (Original post)
Post removed
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)More likely, an under-educated law officer at work.
But I empathize with your desire to conflate the two... it's much more convenient to both the brain and the bias that way.
aikoaiko
(34,184 posts)And yes, there is a difference.
It's really assinine. I-75 is a main corridor for Canadian snowbirds.
I wish the news agency outed the officer/sheriff who arrested her.
Glorfindel
(9,736 posts)where I live, than from Nashville, TN, to Indianapolis, IN. But there are no Interstate Highways here, so we don't get the Canadian snowbirds. Besides, it gets really cold here in the southern Appalachians.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)I hate driving through Georgia.
pazzyanne
(6,558 posts)Sad and terrifying at the same time, to think this is happening in the United States.
TheFrenchRazor
(2,116 posts)Fritz Walter
(4,292 posts)Using turn signals prior to changing lanes?
Yielding right-of-way to traffic trying to merge from an on-ramp? (That's considered treason in some parts of the Peach State: giving aid and comfort to an enemy).
Maintaining a safety cushion between you and the driver in front of your car? (see above)
Driving without a gun-rack in the rear window?
I just spent a good part of this past weekend on I-95 between Savannah and the Florida State Line, and I'd swear that Georgia -- or as I refer to them, "JarJar" -- drivers got their licenses with a McDonald's Happy Meal. Apparently, the LEO in this instance got his badge from Chik-Fil-A.
/
"License, registration and proof of insurance, y'all!"
cvoogt
(949 posts)Says so in the video
Fritz Walter
(4,292 posts)Saturday, on I-95, I tried to maintain a slightly-higher-than-legal speed (~77 in a 70 MPH zone), and I lost count of the number of cars and trucks that blew past me like I was standing still. Easily 90 MPH, probably much higher. And Johnny Law was out there, hiding in the median. Did not see ONE SINGLE car/truck pulled over.
They like to pull over any out-of-state plates. It's happened to me too, on a 4th of July.
Chakaconcarne
(2,462 posts)IronLionZion
(45,540 posts)they target anyone who is different, yes even whites who have out of state plates. They're hoping that one of the many people they pull over might have some illegal drugs or something, otherwise they'll still get money for the fine or tickets hoping that people will not know any better to challenge it in court.
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)International law says any alien is guaranteed the right to contact their consulate.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)DoctorJoJo
(1,134 posts)The deep South is just one ginormous goober cesspool: natural selection versus rampant inbreeding!
Crunchy Frog
(26,647 posts)If they didn't absolutely have to?
I wouldn't even go there (even though there's a place in Atlanta I'd actually like to visit).
Snake Plissken
(4,103 posts)That's taking our jobs?
DAMANgoldberg
(1,278 posts)If you are coming from Canada and going to Florida, believe it or not, you can avoid most of Georgia (you have to go way out of the way to totally avoid it).
I-75 South to I-24 West to I-59 South (you will hit about 15 miles of GA, Dade County)
Once you get to Birmingham take I-459 South (loop freeway) to I-65 South
Once you get to Montgomery you can either take North Blvd or South Blvd to US 231 South
Stay on US 231 South (4-lane divided highway) bypassing Dothan, then enter Florida
I-10 East past Tallahassee, then connect with I-75 or I-95 South to get to the rest of Florida.
One known speed trap, between Montgomery and Troy, otherwise few problems. And this is Alabama your talking about.
NanceGreggs
(27,819 posts)A friend of ours drove down from Toronto to attend a music industry event.
He pulled into a gas station in Tennessee, and on hearing his accent, the attendant asked where he was from.
Our friend said, Well, Im from a country that borders the US. So the attendant looked at his license plate and said, Ont-a-REE-o? Funny, that doesnt sound Mexican to me.
Downtown Hound
(12,618 posts)IronLionZion
(45,540 posts)Since it is a very long state east to west
Mr. Ected
(9,670 posts)The caricatures of law enforcement officers portrayed in the movies are closer to reality than you could believe.
rockfordfile
(8,704 posts)struggle4progress
(118,356 posts)Non-US citizens holding a valid foreign drivers license are allowed to drive in the state of Georgia for tourism or business purposes. In the case of a driver license issued by the driver's licensing authority of a foreign country, a law officer may consult such person's passport or visa to verify the validity of such license, if available ...
https://dds.georgia.gov/information-non-us-citizens
DFW
(54,445 posts)To be specific, 1981 in upstate New York, a Dutch friend of mine was with an international group of people who were traveling cross-country and back. He knew how to drive, but had failed his driver's test twice (too lazy to learn the theroretical part, we surmised).
Benig basically (and foolishly) fearless, he approached a cop in a rest stop on the interstate somewhere near the New York/Pennsylvania border, and asked him if it was OK if he drove in the USA without an American driver's license. The cop said sure, your Dutch driver's license is honored here for the length of your visit. He thanked the cop, and continued, oh, by the way, what if I don't have a Dutch driver's license, either? The cop then told him, "in that case, stick to the interstates, and don't speed." He thought this was great advice, and that America was a wonderful country because he said that in Holland he would probably have been arrested for just asking. Indeed, of the 6000 mile trip, he probably drove over a third of it.
How times have changed. Depending on which state he found himself in, these days he might have gotten himself fatally shot merely for asking.
Mendocino
(7,511 posts)a can of tuna from the Sac-O-Suds.
ProfessorGAC
(65,212 posts)He'll get her off the hook!
ecstatic
(32,733 posts)Everything that needed to be said about the ignorant cop
has already been said, so my 2 cents is:
If you're speeding with the pack, just keep moving at the same pace. Slowing down is an admission of guilt and an invitation to "come get me."
Buy silver toned cars, preferably sedan or suv.