Polly wants a ticket? Driver with parrot charged after complaint of unusual driving

It’s an infraction some might say is for the birds.

A motorist in Perth County was charged with crowding the driver’s seat last week, after police say they observed a parrot perched on the driver’s shoulder.

The charge was laid at a vehicle stop Thursday afternoon on Perth Rd. 119, following a complaint to the OPP about “unusual driving.”

The driver was ticketed under the Highway Traffic Act for driving “with persons or property in the front or driver’s seat so places as to interfere with the proper management or control of the motor vehicle.”

A release from the Perth County OPP detachment tells drivers that being behind the wheel requires full attention.

“Anything that isn’t properly secured in your vehicle, be it human or otherwise, essentially becomes debris if you have to stop suddenly,” said Const. Laura Lee Brown. “It can be extremely dangerous whether a bird or another pet goes flying out the window or hits someone else in the car, causing injury.”