On Thursday, Kingston police’s new automated licence plate reader (ALPR) helped one of its constables charge two drivers with suspended licences at the same stop within about 20 minutes of one another.
All of this took place while Const. Rick Hough was taking part in a ride-along with a Global News reporter.
With the help of his rear-facing speed radar, Hough pulled over a driver who was travelling 91 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. But when that driver pulled ahead of the police cruiser, the ALPR noticed a few other things.
“(It) also caught his licence plate (stickers),” Hough said. “And gave me a hit on him being a suspended driver.”
The driver also couldn’t immediately prove he had insurance.
Since his licence was suspended, Hough instructed the driver to call a tow truck and someone to pick him up.
But that’s when things went from bad to worse. The man called his girlfriend, and when she pulled ahead of his car, the ALPR went off again. She, too, was driving with a suspended licence.
“So you got a ticket in June in Picton for speeding?” Hough said to the woman during the traffic stop. “And then before that, you got one in January of last year on the 401?”
Both of those tickets were still unpaid.
Now, the pair has thousands of dollars worth of new traffic tickets to worry about before getting their cars back on the road.
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