Dear Mr. Aarbo,
SPAM and unsolicited advertising used to be bad enough when it would end up in my E-mail account. Now it’s ending up on the windshield of my car, and I find myself equally helpless. Just the other day, after removing the latest lot of garbage from beneath my windshield wipers, I found fresh scratches on the hood! The thought of some strange person fiddling with my car (my baby) when I’m not around just makes my blood boil!
How do I get the people that are doing this to leave me alone? I never asked for any of this stuff to be put on my car - how would I, short of a neon sign saying “SPAM ME”? I used to take the flyers home and trash them, but what’s the point when everyone else just tosses them to the street. I can only imagine how disgusting it looks the next morning with hundreds of soggy flyers strewn everywhere. There’s got to be some kind of law that they’re breaking...
- Spiced Ham
Dear Spiced Ham,
The placing of flyers on vehicles is illegal. It is a provincial offence under the Traffic Safety Act. It is considered “tampering” under section 107(1) of Regulation 304/2002 of the Traffic Safety Act. That section states:
A person other than a peace officer shall not use, interfere or tamper with any motor vehicle or any of its accessories or any thing placed in or on it without the consent of the owner.
Obviously you have not consented to someone placing a flyer on your car, therefore, you may file a complaint with the Calgary Police Service. To do so, you would call its non-emergency number at 266-1234. Given that it is a non-emergency and non-criminal matter, I am not sure how long it would take for the police to take any action. I called the City to find out and was advised that the police are required to deal with all complaints in a timely manner. Again, I am not sure how long it would be before they would take action. I guess one would have to file a complaint to find out.
Finally, I would not follow the actions of others and dump the flyers into the street. That is littering and would violate the City’s bylaws. If you are going to file a complaint then you would need the flyer as evidence. If you are not going to file a complaint then simply throw it into the garbage or, better yet, into a recycling bin.
Darryl A. Aarbo
If you wish to send in a letter, please email it to legaladvice@gaycalgary.com. Darryl A. Aarbo can be directly reached at Courtney Sebree Aarbo, Barristers & Solicitors, 1138 Kensington Road NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 3P3. Visit their website at http://www.csalaw.ca. Phone (403) 571-5133. Fax: (403) 571-5134
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