In PEI, Canada, with my Class 5 G Driver's License (which means I am only allowed one passenger in the car who is not family), I was stopped in a routine road check with four passengers who were not family. The officer asked for my license and registration and informed that I would be getting a ticket for the above violation. He told us that the fine would be up to $100. When he brought us the fine (40 minutes later) he told us that "unfortunately for you" the ticket fine was recently changed to $220. I am wondering if we can dispute this due to the misinformation on the fine. On the ticket he wrote specifically "Driving vehicle with more than one passenger NOT immediate family member." But the officer never made any attempt at all to see if we were at all related. He never asked a single question to any of us whether we were related to the driver or not. He simply assumed none of us were immediate family, which we aren't, but I'm pretty sure it's wrong for a police officer to ASSUME and it is his job to ask us if we are family members.
Do we have grounds to eliminate this fine, or at least get it reduced to the original quoted price of "up to $100.", based on the fact he originally told us the fine would be $100 and that he never checked to see if we were family members, which is what the violation is for.
Do we have grounds to eliminate this fine, or at least get it reduced to the original quoted price of "up to $100.", based on the fact he originally told us the fine would be $100 and that he never checked to see if we were family members, which is what the violation is for.