Multiple offender receives hefty fine for driving without insurance

BARRHEAD - A 56-year-old Fort Assiniboine man with a history of driving without insurance must pay a hefty fine or face possible jail time.

Following his guilty plea for driving without insurance in a late November incident, Barry Ross was handed a $7,500 fine by Justice Gordon Putnam on April 9 at the Barrhead Court of Justice.

Putnam gave Ross until April 2025 to pay the fine. If Ross does not pay the fine by April 30, 2025, he will receive 60 days in jail.

The Crown withdrew an additional charge of operating an unregistered motor vehicle.

Traffic Crown prosecutor Sheila Reis said that on Nov. 30, 2023, Ross was driving a small pickup west on Highway 661 when a Barrhead RCMP member spotted him.

She said the RCMP member followed Ross, who turned on Highway 33 before stopping at a gas station/convenience store at Linda's Motor Inn.

"[The RCMP member] witnessed Mr. Ross exit the vehicle from the driver's seat and enter the store," Reis said.

Reis added that the officer followed the accused into the store and asked him to return to his vehicle to produce his insurance and registration documents, which Ross could not comply with.

Typically, the fine for driving without proper insurance is $3,000. 

However, because Ross has a history of driving without proper insurance, the Crown asked for the fine to be increased to $15,000.

Reis said that in the last five years, Ross has been caught and convicted three times for the offence, including once in June 2020 and twice in 2022 in June and November.

"There is also a prior from 2017 and failure to produce from 2020," the she said. "I realize that is a significant amount, but the history shows that Mr Ross is not being deterred from doing this."

Putnam asked how much the previous fines were.

Reis responded that his first two fines were $3,000 but stated, "By legislation, the second should have been $6,000", and the last fine was $6,000.

Duty counsel Gary Smith said his client understands why the Crown wants a much more substantial fine.

"Even $6,000 will be huge for him under the circumstances, and a [$12,000 fine] is a hole he will never be able to get out of," he said, suggesting a $7,500 fine. 

Smith added that Ross is currently unemployed and would find it difficult to gain employment, saying his outstanding fines have prevented him from renewing his driver's licence.

Regardless of the fine's amount, Smith said it would take considerable time to work off the amount via Alberta's Fine Options program.

"I'm not sure what I can say to you," Putnam said. "This behaviour has to stop. You cannot drive on the highway without insurance, but you are doing it and putting yourself and others driving on the highway at risk. It is a public safety situation."

Reis later encouraged Ross to investigate getting his licence back.

"Since there is time to pay [on the fine], it should not prevent you from getting your [driver's licence] back," she said. "You will have to retest because you haven't had one for quite a while, and you will have to prove that your vehicle is insured."

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com