If the paint on your Nova Scotia licence plate is peeling, you should exchange the defective plate immediately -- something that one driver learned the hard way.
Pernell Verhaeghe, who is a CTV employee, was driving through New Brunswick on his way back home to Nova Scotia when he was stopped by the RCMP.
“He said because I couldn't read your license plate, I got a $172.50 ticket,” Verhaeghe told CTV Atlantic.
Corroding with peeling paint, the plate was illegible. Verhaeghe did not know the plate had been subject to a recall.
“I didn't really take notice of it, that it had corroded as bad as it was,” Verhaeghe said.
When Verhaeghe got home, he decided to weigh his options.
“I called the registry of motor vehicles and the lady that I talked to… she said, yeah we had a raft of plates that were defective, they were peeling off.”
A media relations advisor for Service Nova Scotia confirmed that a batch of licence plates with peeling paint was produced in 2008. A recall was issued in 2015 via social media, the spokesperson said.
“I was not aware of that,” Verhaeghe said.
He’s not the only one. This week, CTV Atlantic spotted several other licence plates on the road with peeling paint.
Verhaeghe said that the recall should have warranted more than a social media announcement.
“The DMV would certainly have had my address associated to my plate, so why wasn't there some sort of letter issued… saying your plate’s been recalled?”
Although Verhaeghe was able to get a new plate free of charge, he’s still stuck with the ticket. For $15, he could receive a letter from Service Nova Scotia stating that there are bad plates to help him fight that ticket, but then he would also have to travel to Moncton to attend court.
Verhaeghe is still deciding what to do next, but he doesn’t believe he should have to pay for something that wasn’t his fault.
With files from CTV Atlantic
