so, i was in quebec a couple of months ago, and i'm nearly certain i got tagged by one of their speed cameras. not exactly a small offense either, iirc the limit was 30kph and i was around double that. this was in my personal vehicle with nc tags. i might be making a return trip to some of the western provinces later this summer/fall, and am curious if this is going to cause me any issues going in...

7/12/2009 9:59:45 PM

might be a good excuse to get that vanity plate you've always kinda wanted.

7/12/2009 10:03:04 PM

possibly. the whole passport business is the main issue. i don't know to many good forgers....

7/12/2009 10:37:24 PM

Does it take a long time to get through the US/Canada border? I'll be crossing it in a rental car in October!!

7/12/2009 10:41:07 PM

no, the two times i've been it's taken all of 5 minutes once you get to the booth. depending on where you cross, time of day, etc. you might have to wait in line a bit though.

if you're going into quebec by chance, i would reccomend the us201/canada173 route through maine. beautiful. 93 up through vermont isn't bad either.

[Edited on July 12, 2009 at 10:50 PM. Reason : only thing is the snow will probably be flying at the 201/173 crossing for sure. maybe 93 too.]

7/12/2009 10:43:56 PM

I'm going to Hamilton, ON from Buffalo New York.

7/12/2009 10:54:23 PM

about to cross the border on 93:





crossing back in to maine:





the desolate highway back across maine. there was still a good amount of snow around in may.

7/12/2009 10:57:43 PM

^^i considered that one, but had heard it can get busy. just try to pick an off time, like the middle of the afternoon on a weekday or even a sunday or something.

7/12/2009 10:59:34 PM

Quote :

"30kph "

Wow. I wonder if they photograph people on foot that feel like sprinting past that speed camera.

7/13/2009 7:14:31 AM

^

7/13/2009 7:56:02 AM

just noticed i screwed up that last pic

7/13/2009 10:17:05 AM

Quote :

"I'm going to Hamilton, ON from Buffalo New York."

I've crossed here several times in Jan 08 and Jan 09. During the middle of the day, there's generally more people but they try to minimize the backup by limiting the number of car searches and what not. During the night there's less traffic so they might ask a few more questions and that kind of bullshit.

On both of those trips we made a few crossings going from Niagara Falls to Buffalo and back, etc. I don't think we ever waited more than 5 minutes total on any of those trips across either way. Only 1 time did they want us to open the trunk and look around, and the guy spent about a minute maybe looking through our junk, but we really didn't have shit back there other than a couple of suitcases full of clothes.

I don't think you'll find it much different in October. The fact you'll be in a rental car shouldn't be a factor in any kind of holdup, I doubt they even give a shit. The QEW between Buffalo and Hamilton is not exciting, there isn't much of shit out there other than a few exits with 5 Tim Horton's to choose from at each.

I think you have to have a passport now. I had mine last time and they will not stamp it, even if you ask (if you care about that kind of thing) for USA to Canada or vise versa travel.

7/13/2009 10:39:47 AM

Don't cross on foot. They have no idea what to do with you. I was held for three hours crossing into BC from Washington on my hitch hiking trip. They wouldn't believe anyone would walk into Canada without a destination in mind. To be fair, I probably looked like I was going to move up there.

7/13/2009 11:18:49 AM

Quote :

"I think you have to have a passport now"

you do.

isn't the buffalo crossing, or that area of the border in general, a hot spot for smuggling illegals also?

7/13/2009 8:30:11 PM

Ah, finally a thread for my expertise. I'm originally from and used to live in Canada (queue Canuck jokes).

Was this at the actual crossing or somewhere in Quebec? Regardless, I'm pretty sure that only NY, Ontario, and Quebec have reciprocity (including access to each other's records). I highly doubt that you'll get the ticket in the mail. If you do, though, I'd just go ahead and pay it, unless you're visiting at a time that you can schedule a date for--it's pretty rare for police officers to show up to traffic court, at least in big Canadian cities.

When I drive up to see family, I usually go 160 kph (100 mph), since even if I get a ticket I don't have to be worried about insurance surcharges. Most people do at least 125-130 anyway, as enforcement in Ontario at least is pretty lax.

[Edited on July 13, 2009 at 10:44 PM. Reason : a]

7/13/2009 10:41:40 PM

Most of my time in Canada has been in BC. I always found the Canadians at the gates going in to be real 1st class dickheads.

[Edited on July 13, 2009 at 10:55 PM. Reason : pretty uncharacteristic. everyone else up there is cool.]

7/13/2009 10:54:29 PM

The Yukon border is probably the quickest and most lax border I've ever been through. No line either, go figure!

7/13/2009 11:57:08 PM

^^^awesome, thanks for the response. it happened in a little town southeast of quebec city, not far from the maine border. saint george i believe it was.

in my limited googling a while back, it's apparently a program that's in the testing/experimental phase, so it may or may not have really even resulted in anything. it definitely went off though... i noticed it up on the pole at the last second, and the flash was obvious.

i guess i'm just curious to know that canada isn't as retarded as the u.s. for example, heaven forbid you get a ticket here/miss the court date, then return a few months later and have your name run by any leo.

[Edited on July 14, 2009 at 9:48 PM. Reason : this thread reminds me, i need to pay the ticket i got in va on the same trip ]

7/14/2009 9:47:56 PM

whats a roadtrip without a few tickets? heh that shit always happens to me too.

7/19/2009 10:27:01 PM

Quote :

"Most of my time in Canada has been in BC. I always found the Canadians at the gates going in to be real 1st class dickheads."

lol me too and I'm a citizen. The ones going through ON have always been fine, but BC for some reason, both at the Blaine/Surrey and Port Angeles/Victoria (ferry) crossings have been douchebags. When I came through on a bus, they had me open my luggage and go through it all... I was 17!

7/20/2009 8:50:29 AM

july and august weekends get very busy because the construction workers get a 2 week vacay and lots of other people are crossing back and forth. i sat at lasalle for a good hour and some change last year when the construction workers vacation ended in early august.






also, fuck those bastards.

7/21/2009 2:08:09 AM