She stops to help crash victim and this is the thanks she nearly gets?

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This article was published 03/02/2023 (992 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg driver who pulled over to comfort a crash victim at a downtown intersection was taken aback when an enforcement officer told her she was getting a parking ticket.

Natalie, who asked that her last name be withheld, hopped out of her vehicle to check on the man, after seeing a truck broadside his car at Portage Avenue and Fort Street at about noon Thursday.

“It looked pretty bad. All the air bags went off in the (car),” said Natalie, whose ticket for parking in front of a fire hydrant has since been voided by the city.

Given the possibility of serious injuries, she tried to stop quickly in a place where her vehicle would be out of the way of traffic.

She ran over to the man after parking in front of a hydrant in a no-stopping zone on Notre Dame Avenue at Portage, where Fort, a one-way northbound street, turns into Notre Dame.

“He said he hit his head. He was in shock and shaking,” said Natalie. “He said he couldn’t say any words, so I held his hand.”

A few minutes later, she noticed a Winnipeg Parking Authority officer next to her car, which was in a curb lane.

While she approached the officer, the driver of the truck was already trying to explain the situation to the city employee, she said.

Natalie then explained why her car was in front of the hydrant.

She said the officer informed her the penalty notice had already been entered in a computer system and a ticket would arrive in the mail.

“She said, ‘If I don’t enforce you, I can’t enforce anybody,’” said Natalie. “I was in a little bit of disbelief at the lack of compassion. I snapped back and said, ‘Are you… serious?’

“I’m not parking there to get lunch. It was an emergency. She could have said sorry for writing a ticket and told me how to fight it.”

The fine for parking within three metres of a fire hydrant is $100. The penalty is reduced to $75 if paid within 14 days.

The officer was aware of the collision, but didn’t know the parked car was connected to the incident until the owner came over to explain, according to city spokesman Adam Campbell.

Natalie intended to fight the penalty.

“We can confirm that once the issuing enforcement officer was made aware of this situation, they began the process of voiding the ticket,” Campbell wrote in an email.

“The ticket was not served to the vehicle owner and the process of voiding it was completed by a City of Winnipeg screening officer (Friday) morning.”

The city expects officers to use their discretion when deciding whether a ticket and/or tow is appropriate.

“If an officer encounters an issue and is unsure of the appropriate response, they are able to contact a supervisor remotely,” Campbell wrote. “Officers will proceed with issuing a penalty notice and ordering the removal of any vehicle that is causing a safety hazard or obstructing traffic.

“However, in this instance, we did not serve a ticket. In case of a major accident, unless they observe someone who requires immediate assistance, WPA officers are trained to leave the area to avoid further crowding the scene for first responders.”

Natalie, who works downtown, said another witness who stopped to check on the people involved in the crash did not receive a ticket, despite being illegally parked.

After moving her car into a loading zone, she stayed by the man’s side until Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service members arrived.

She drove him home after he was checked over at the scene.

The man had the right-of-way when the truck T-boned his car, she said.

After the incident, she tweeted about being ticketed for being illegally parked while helping the crash victim. As some Twitter users criticized the city, one person offered to pay the fine.

A 311 employee who replied to her tweet directed her to a city website with information about how to fight her “parking violation.”

Once a parking ticket has been issued, an officer is not permitted to go back on it, regardless of the circumstances, said Coun. Janice Lukes, the city’s public works chair and deputy mayor.

“It’s not like the old days where you can rip up a ticket,” she said.

Penalty notices explain how a ticket can be contested.

Officers should also be able to provide the information to the person being ticketed, if there is an encounter, said Lukes.

These days, most tickets are automated because the process is faster and reduces the likelihood of a confrontation, the councillor said.

Len Eastoe of Traffic Ticket Experts said a ticket in circumstances such as Natalie’s is unnecessary and “completely ridiculous.”

Acts of “human kindness” must be taken into consideration, he said.

“A little discretion goes a long way,” said Eastoe, a former police officer whose firm helps people fight traffic tickets for non-parking-related offences such as speeding.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching