---
title: "Canadian Man Ticketed for Singing ‘Everybody Dance Now’ Too Loudly While Driving"
description: "What happens when you really let the music take control."
date: "2017-10-23"
modified: "2017-10-23"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/15367/canadian-man-ticketed-for-singing-everybody-dance-now-too-loudly-while-driving"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Canada"
  - "Laws"
  - "police"
  - "sing along"
  - "ticket"
---

# Canadian Man Ticketed for Singing ‘Everybody Dance Now’ Too Loudly While Driving

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/10/img_2239.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Of the vanishingly few joys left in life, belting out [your favorite jam](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/1733/kenny-wayne-shepherds-top-10-driving-songs>) in the privacy of your car is one of the most precious. That is, unless you live in Montreal, where police slapped one man with a $150 ticket for "screaming" along with C+C Music Factory's 1990 classic ["Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaTGrV58wec>) while driving through town.

[According to *CTV News,*](<https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/man-given-149-ticket-for-singing-90s-dance-song-while-driving-1.3643520>) Taoufik Moalla was driving through the Saint-Laurent neighborhood of Montreal and "cheerfully" singing along to the hit dance single on September 27 when he noticed a police car with its lights on in the rear view mirror. He slowed down to let it pass, and was shocked when the car drove up behind him and a voice on the loudspeaker ordered him to pull over.

A total of four Montreal police officers surrounded Moalla's vehicle and asked him if he had been screaming in his car. He replied that no, he was simply singing along like anyone else—as he later told *CTV News*, "just if you are happy and you like this song." The officers took his license and registration, went back to their patrol car, and returned with a $150 ticket for "screaming in public."

"I don't know if my voice was very bad and that’s why I got the ticket," he said. "But I was very shocked. I understand if they are doing their job, they are allowed to check if everything's okay, if I kidnapped someone or if there's danger inside but I would never expect they would give me a ticket for that."

Not wanting to cause a scene, he accepted [the unusual ticket](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/14490/driver-passes-slow-moving-cop-gets-ticket-for-going-1-kph-over-speed-limit>) and immediately appealed the fine through formal channels, a process that will take up to a year. But there's at least one party who's not surprised by any of this: Moalla's wife.

"She told me, if it was for singing, I'd have given you a ticket for $300," [he said to *CTV News*.](<https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/man-given-149-ticket-for-singing-90s-dance-song-while-driving-1.3643520>)

We can see a situation where someone is singing so...*enthusiastically* that they are no better or safer than [any other kind of distracted driver.](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/9615/distracted-driving-is-a-symptom-of-our-dangerous-addiction-to-garbage>) But with Montreal Police declining to comment on the case, all we're left with is Moalla's side, in all its Kafkaesque glory.

"I was singing loudly in my car. Is there something that forbids that, or did I really bother anyone?" he asked, [according to the *CBC.*](<https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/man-fined-car-everybody-dance-now-1.4366342>)

https://youtube.com/embed/LaTGrV58wec

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)