motor vehicle

Police near Toronto pull over car so dirty that driver can't see through windows

Contrary to what some car fanatics might suggest, it's not a crime in Ontario to drive a dusty, dirty or even downright mud-encrusted motor vehicle.

Unless of course it happens to be that your car is so damn dirty you can't see where you're going. Also crimes: Speeding through school zones and speeding in general.

It's unwise to do any of these things in front of cops, but a driver who recently got caught doing all three of them at once may not have been the wisest of people out there to start.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Central Region Twitter account recently shared a photo of what can only be described as a ridiculously dirty car pulled over in Caledon, Ontario, just northwest of Toronto.

Police say that the vehicle was stopped for speeding in a Community Safety Zone along Highway 10.

By definition, a Community Safety Zone (CSZ) is "a designated stretch of roadway, recognized under provincial legislation, marked with community safety zone signs allowing the doubling of fines associated with speeding and, through the applicable sections of Bill 65, Safer School Zones Act, 2017."

These zones almost always fall in the direct proximity of a school, and fines are proportionate to how fast one drives over the posted speed limit through them.

Police didn't say how fast this person's dirt car was going at the time, though it's presumable that they were charged based on how the OPP tweet was worded.

"Yes, the driver was also charged for having a dirty plate," reads the police missive, published just before 4 p.m. on March 31. "Plate shall be visible in its entirety at all times-clear from dirt and obstruction."

There are a whole host of charges under Ontario's Highway Traffic Act pertaining to obstructed plates, including "dirty plate," "obstruct plate," and "entire plate not plainly visible."

Those charges come with set fines of $85 each. Driving without a clear view can land someone with a ticket of $110 which... to be honest, seems kind of light, given how much damage could be caused.

While police are vocal each winter about how it's not okay to drive a snow-covered car, vehicles as dirty as the one pulled over in Caledon last week don't seem quite as common. Probably because they're disgusting. 

Lead photo by

OPP Central Region


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