Unfit vehicle taken off the road in Kitchener, driver facing multiple charges

The Waterloo Regional Police Service has shared a video of an unsafe vehicle being taken off the roads.

A driver is facing a long list of charges for cruising around Kitchener in an unfit vehicle.

A Waterloo Regional Police Service officer stopped the driver in the King Street East area near Sportsworld Drive on Aug. 6 just after 9 a.m.

A video posted to the social media website X, formerly known as Twitter, showed the interaction between the driver and the officer.

“I stopped you, first of all, because your windows are very darkly tinted,” the officer explained. “Your front side windows, and then it looks like you have windshield tint on as well.”

In Ontario, drivers cannot have any tint whatsoever on their front windshield and tint on front side windows cannot exceed 30 per cent on vehicles made after 2017.

But that was not the only concern.

“As I’m driving behind you, I can smell your exhaust, so I’m assuming you don’t have a catalytic converter,” the officer said.

A safety inspection was conducted, revealing several problems, including at least one of the tires worn down to the wear bars. Wear bars, also known as treadwear indicators, are typically small perpendicular blocks moulded into the grooves of a tire to mark tread depth. When they become more noticeable, it means the tires need to be replaced as they are no longer safe and may not be considered legal for roadways.

The driver, a 21-year-old man, was charged with driving with the windshield coated/view obstructed, colour coating obscuring interior, failure to display two licence plates, driving a motor vehicle not in accordance with emissions regulations and driving with improper tires.

The vehicle was deemed unsafe and the officer removed the licence plate.

When an officer removes licence plates from a vehicle, they are returned to the Ministry of Transportation.

The driver must then make the necessary changes and have a licensed inspection station examine the vehicle. If it passes, a Safety Standard Certificate is issued. The owner must then take that certificate to a ServiceOntario location, along with their vehicle permit, and request to have the vehicle’s status changed to ‘fit.’

Once all requirements have been met, new licence plates will be issued.