Driver fights fine for singing in car

A CANADIAN man is awaiting a court showdown to defend his right to sing and drive after being fined for chanting along at the wheel to a 1990s club anthem.

Taoufik Moalla, 38, was on an evening supermarket run in Montreal with a CD playing in his car. The song was C+C Music Factory’s 1990 hit Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).

“It’s a retro song that reminds me of youth,” the father of two said. He sang along because “I was happy, I was in a good mood and I was just repeating the refrain”. As he belted out the euphoric chorus of “Everybody Dance Now!” his windows were slightly down but he told CTV Montreal he wasn’t being too loud.

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Then he heard a siren behind him. Four police officers checked the inside of his car. “Then they asked me if I screamed. I said, ‘No, I was just singing.’ ” They fined him £90 for the offence of screaming in public.

Noise bylaws vary by borough in Montreal but in general, “noise resulting from cries, clamours, singing, altercations or cursing and any other form of uproar” is prohibited.

Mr Moalla has formally contested the fine but will not receive a court date for at least six months. “I don’t know if my voice was very bad and that’s why I got the ticket, but I was very shocked,” he added.

Ben Hoyle

This article first appeared in The Times