With another rally against pandemic measures planned for Saturday at the legislature, horn honkers might want to think twice about filling Victoria streets with noise.
Area residents have complained about persistent honking during recent protests at the legislature against COVID-19 health restrictions, prompting the city to implement a direct ticketing process for unnecessary horn use — use that isn’t intended to warn of a potential danger from a vehicle.
Previously, the ticketing process could get bogged down, since it involved potential court appearances.
Police and city bylaw officers can now slap honkers with immediate tickets for as much as $125, which will be reduced to $75 if paid within 30 days.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said ticketing honkers has nothing to do with stopping people from expressing their opinions. “Council absolutely supports the right to demonstrate, to gather peaceably to make a point,” she said. “We’re the capital city and we welcome people to the legislature all the time to do that.”
But the horn honking has become “very trying” for residents and businesspeople. “It’s disruptive on an ongoing basis,” Helps said.
The goal of the municipal tickets is “to act as a deterrent to give our residents some peace and quiet, even while democracy is being exercised,” she said.
Helps said the city received complaints that customers were leaving stores because of the noise.
Victoria police spokesman Bowen Osoko said the council move “adds to the toolkit that we can use.”
“Our approach is always de-escalation and then enforcement.”
Police said the public should expect traffic disruptions Saturday downtown and around the legislature.
During last weekend’s protest, officers issued 10 tickets for offences ranging from excessive noise to obstructing traffic.
They also issued more than 50 warnings for various infractions, including horn honking.
Police said they have heard concerns from James Bay residents during protests and will try to minimize disruptions in the area.
