"This is something that's done not only in Guelph but in many other municipalities," he said. "They all vary slightly, but we generally try to recover the cost from the out-of-town person involved in the motor vehicle collision, because we know the insurance companies generally cover that."

Armstrong said the user-fee bylaw arose at about the same time provincial highways became county and municipal roads. Previously, municipalities were able to recover costs from the province for collisions on provincial roads. After those roads were handed over to the municipality, the province would no longer take the bill.

From time to time the city has received some pushback on this issue. People are often surprised when they get the invoice, he said, but once they hear it can be covered by their insurance, they accept the cost.

Bruijns said he refuses to pay the fine, adding it is disgusting for the city to charge people from out of town in this manner. He said he received the invoice from the city too late to bring to his insurance company anyways, even if he wanted to have the firm cover it.

"I went to my insurance and I could have tabled it, but by the time I got the invoice from the City of Guelph, it was long past," he said. "But in any event, I wasn't going to do it anyways. I think that's ripping off the insurance companies."

At the end of October, Bruijns was contacted by a collection agency on behalf of the city. The letter it sent demanded he pay the $350 fine, plus an additional $67 in accrued interest. If left unpaid, the agency said the debt could affect his credit score.

"I will never pay it," he said. If the city took me to court over the matter I would simply file a claim against them for the equal amount.

The only way he would concede and pay the fine is if a court ordered him to pay. Until then, he said he would fight this issue on principle alone and bring as much exposure to the issue as he could.

"I don't think anyone knows there's such a regulation or bylaw in place."

cseto@guelphmercury.com