A Topley-area man has won a partial victory in an appeal of a driving prohibition he received after he was pulled over near Prince George.
Daniel Lopes Dos Santos, 61, saw his penalty reduced from three months to 30 days but was unable to convince B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ron Tindale to throw out the convictions he received altogether.
Dos Santos was riding his motorcycle on August 5, 2013 when he was stopped by an RCMP officer on Hills Road, off of Highway 97, south of Prince George and issued tickets for speeding, failing to stop, changing lanes without signaling, crossing a solid line and riding without a supervisor, contrary to the conditions of his driver's licence.
According to evidence given at March 11, 2014, hearing before a justice of the peace, Dos Santos was going 178 km/h while heading south on Highway 97 before turning onto Kolling Road and onto Hills Road, with the officer following him in an unmarked vehicle.
Dos Santos testified he was looking for property in the area and became lost. He also denied being the person the officer saw riding erratically and at a high rate of speed.
The justice of the peace rejected Dos Santos' evidence, noting in part that there were no for sale signs along Kolling Road nor any other evidence that property was for sale along the stretch at that time. Dos Santos was fined $948 in total and issued the three-month prohibition.
Dos Santos subsequently took the case to B.C. Supreme Court, arguing the justice of the peace misapprehended his evidence. But Tindale disagreed, noting Dos Santos was "quite prepared to disregard the restrictions on the learner's license for the two weeks of his touring," and could not explain why he turned onto that particular road.
However, Tindale also noted that while Dos Santos' behaviour on the highway was egregious, he has no previous record for driving infractions and reduced the penalty.
Dos Santos lives on a ranch nine kilometres east of Topley, a small community 277 km east of Prince George.
