A disabled man who, along with his injured son, walked for four kilometres after their car was impounded on a northern B.C. highway has had his car returned following an informal RCMP review.

Jason Martinson's car was seized earlier this week after he was clocked driving 91 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. A new provincial law allows police to seize vehicles at the scene from drivers who speed excessively.

Martinson admits he was speeding on the highway into Telkwa — but says the Mountie who pulled him over could have given him some leeway.

"I informed him I was disabled and that didn't really pack any weight with him," Martinson said. "He drove right past me limping down the road."

Martinson is recovering from injuries sustained in a car crash earlier this year. He uses crutches to get around, and can only walk for short distances without support. He is awaiting additional surgery, and says the cartilage around his right ankle is not strong enough to support long walks.

In addition, Martinson's 15-year-old son — who was in the car at the time — had just lost part of a toe.

However, RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said the officer did offer Martinson and his injured son a ride in the tow truck so he could get to a doctor's appointment in Smithers.

"Certainly there was assistance offered to this individual and his son, and the individual refused," Moskaluk said.

But Martinson said the tow truck would have dropped him in Smithers — 40 kilometres from his rural home near Telkwa — with no cab fare to get back home.

Instead, Martinson and his injured son walked for four kilometres until a family member arrived to pick them up.

Martinson wants officers to use more discretion before they impound the vehicles of people with disabilities.

"My ankle's completely swollen up, I can hardly walk right now," he told CBC News. "This is wrong. It's got to change."

Car returned after informal police review

In a written statement released Wednesday afternoon, police said they reversed the impoundment of the vehicle following an informal review.

In addition, instead of facing charges for excessive speeding, Martinson now faces the lesser offence of speeding.

"It was determined that although the driver was lawfully stopped for speeding, the officer erred in issuing the excessive speed violation and impoundment of the vehicle, as he omitted to factor in the court accepted margin of error of the speed detection device used, which is plus or minus 2 kilometres per hour," Moskaluk said.

"In this case, when we factor in the margin of error it is possible that, although speeding, he may have been traveling at a speed lesser than the 40 km/h excessive speed threshold, i.e. 39 km/h over the indicated 50 km/h speed limit, hence the adjustment to the lesser offence and rescinding of the impoundment. This corrective action was taken in order to be fair and consistent with our enforcement efforts."