Last Thursday, Charlene Sierakowski got the news she was hoping to hear.
ICBC told the 19-year-old that she will not have to pay a $230 fine before she can put her Chevy Cavalier back on the road.
“I can insure my car now,” Sierakowski said.
But because she is going to China for a three-week modeling assignment on Sept. 4, she says she will wait until she comes back.
It’s been a month since Sierakowski discovered that the ID stolen with her purse in Crescent Beach had been used by someone to duck a police ticket for drinking in public, a crime the Langley resident says she did not commit.
Sierakowski’s purse and ID were stolen in March when she took her dogs to Crescent Beach, using a borrowed car because her Cavalier was in the shop.
She returned from her visit to the local dog park to discover someone got into the locked car trunk by ripping open the back seat.
After reporting the theft to police and replacing her ID, Sierakowski thought the matter was over and done with until she went to insure her car July 25.
That was when she was told that a Surrey Mountie had written her up for drinking in a public place almost two months earlier.
She would not be able to insure her car until she paid the $230 fine, or could prove it was incorrectly issued.
Sierakowski had joined the hundreds of B.C. residents who fill out ICBC Driver Impersonation Packages to report violation tickets they say have been falsely recorded against their driving records.
Figures provided to PAN by ICBC show more than 200 tickets are cancelled every year in B.C. as a result of impersonation packages being filed.
In 2009, 1,110 files were opened and 230 tickets were cancelled because of impersonation.
In 2010, there were 1,050 files opened and 290 tickets were withdrawn as a result of such claims.
In 2011, 810 files were opened and 260 tickets were cancelled.
Some tickets, ICBC notes, get cancelled without a driver having to fill out an impersonation package because a police review has found them to be bogus.
According to a copy of the violation ticket provided to Sierakowski, the alleged drinking incident occurred at 6:55 p.m. on May 2 near 70A Avenue and 137A Street, a time when she was working in a restaurant.
The person who used Sierakowski’s drivers’ licence scrawled the initials “C.S.” where the “alleged offender’s signature” is supposed to go on the ticket.
Sierakowski said she’s been signing her full name since she was old enough to spell it.
She said the officer who issued the ticket still has to fill out paperwork, but she has been assured there will be no trouble getting her car insured without a fine.
She is relieved the issue has been settled and is determined to never leave her purse unattended again.
If any ICBC customers believe they have been victims of driver impersonation, they can file a claim by visiting an ICBC point of service or by calling 604-661-2800.