‘I’ve been robbed again’: Court rules against Winnipeg senior fighting red light ticket

James Aisaican-Chase got a red light ticket in Oct. 2015.

The now 72-year-old senior with Stage 4 lung cancer was going 80 km/h on Bishop Grandin approaching River Avenue when the light turned amber.

He decided it would be safer to keep going than trying to slam on the brakes, so he wound up going .29 seconds into the red, earning him a $203 ticket from a traffic camera.

Despite his health challenges, Aisaican-Chase fought the ticket, seeking to make a point about the system. He believed the amber light was too short and that traffic cameras are a cash grab for the city.

But in a ruling Tuesday by a provincial justice, it was decided that running a red light is an act of absolute liability, meaning that Aisaican-Chase could not argue that he acted reasonably in the situation.

“It’s absolutely incredible that you expect someone to stop at a dead stop with four seconds to go. You can’t do it, it’s impossible,” Aisaican-Chase told reporters outside traffic court. “This whole building is a bullying building. There should be a judicial review by federal government.”

Doctors originally told Aisacan-Chase that the cancer would kill him by June 2017. Almost a year later, he said he has no plans on going away anytime soon.

“I’m planning on staying alive, if it takes 30 years to get justice out of this, I don’t care. I could die today. But I’m going to fight it. I believe in this city and the people of this city. They’re getting robbed blindly by this court. I prefer not to even drive in this city with this despotic operation.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'm planning on staying alive, if it takes 30 years to get justice out of this, I don't care. I could die today. But I'm going to fight it. I believe in this city and the people of this city. They're getting robbed blindly by this court. I prefer not to even drive in this city with this despotic operation."

Lobbying group Wise Up Winnipeg bankrolled last year’s trial, flying in experts to testify that the amber light length is too short. Todd Dube founded the group and has been trying to get the city to change amber light lengths for over a decade.

“We’ve been fighting to have the laws of physics apply to Winnipeg, and they just got beaten by a self-serving system that is protecting the revenue of this program,” Dube scolded. “Surely, they should be vulnerable to the facts, to the laws of physics. No other city has four-second ambers. Not only are they profitable, they are dangerous.”

Standing on the front steps of the Manitoba Provincial Court at 373 Broadway, Dube angrily railed against the ruling, which he said will be appealed, even though he said he knew which way it would go.

“This court is so unfair, so ridiculously biased towards the crown and the city, that we expected to lose. We made the case that James did everything he could to prevent that ticket,” Dube said.

“The justice decided that had no merit, he was simply guilty because he ran a red light. We think that was an error. We’re talking about one second, fighting for one second for ten years at tremendous expense. Why are they defending it? For the obvious reasons, and shame on this justice for playing her role in that.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The justice decided that had no merit, he was simply guilty because he ran a red light. We think that was an error. We're talking about one second, fighting for one second for ten years at tremendous expense. Why are they defending it? For the obvious reasons, and shame on this justice for playing her role in that."

Aisaican-Chase brought the money owed with him to court and has to pay the $203 ticket before it can be appealed.

He said he is motivated to fight in part by his mother, who was told she had six months to live when she was 33.

“On the 1st of July this year, she’ll turn 95. I’ve got a good mentor, I talk to her every day. Life is good. She’s always encouraged people to stick up for their own rights.”