Man fined $119 for singing in his car
A Montreal man says he is facing a CAD$117 (AU$119) traffic ticket just for singing in his car.
In September, Taofik Moalla was driving home and singing along to “Gonna Make You Sweat,” a 1990 dance music smash by C+C Music Factory in his car.
The 38-year-old Canadian said he was singing out loud in his car when police pulled him over and asked him what he was doing.
After Moalla replied, “Nothing,” one officer asked him, “Did you scream loudly?” the Canadian Broadcasting Company reported.
Moalla told the officers, “No, I was just listening to my favourite song,” and then repeated the catchphrase of the song, “Everybody dance now!”
After police checked Moalla’s license and registration, they issued him a traffic ticket fining him CAD$149 Canadian dollars for screaming in his car.
The song in question that got Moalla fined.
Nearly a month later, Moalla said he’s still shocked by the charge.
“I don’t know if my voice was very bad and that’s why I got the ticket,” he told CTV Montreal. “But I was very shocked. I understand if they are doing their job, they are allowed to check if everything’s OK, if I kidnapped someone or if there’s danger inside, but I would never expect they would give me a ticket for that.”
Moalla insists he wasn’t singing too loudly.
He plans to contest the ticket as soon as a court date is scheduled, which could take up to a year.
However, Moalla’s fight for the right to sing to his favourite 90s song isn’t getting much sympathy from his wife.
“She told me, if it was for singing, I’d have given you a ticket for $300,” he told CTV Montreal.