When the IRP trickle becomes a flood

We explained last week that the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles had been forcing everyone who was issued a 90-day Immediate Roadside Prohibition to go through the IIP and RDP, despite the fact that there was no such authority under the Motor Vehicle Act. The remedial measures are supposed to be required if the person’s driving record justifies it. But if there is no history of alcohol impaired driving, how can these programs be justified?

Of course, we all know that these programs can’t be justified unless there is a history of problems with drinking and driving. We’ll never know why the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles took it upon themselves to automatically force everyone through these programs. But it seems clear that it was a major mistake.

In the last 10 days, since the Government admitted that the requirements are not automatic, we have been contacted by people from all across British Columbia who have good driving records, have been driving for many years and who were nevertheless hit with the letter from the OSMV demanding that they take the Responsible Driving Program and get an Interlock in their car or truck. Some of the good people who contacted us were issued their IRP as far back as October 2010. Others received it just before Christmas.

The number of calls keeps going up, which is no surprise since perhaps 30,000 people in BC are in this predicament. Many haven’t driven since the start of their driving prohibition. What will be the effect of this?

We are acting for a significant number of people who are applying to have these requirements reconsidered based on their driving records. There is nothing to distinguish them from the 1137 for whom the IIP and RDP were lifted. The number of people contacting us just keeps going up. Other lawyers are directing clients to us because we are among the offices leading the charge. In a matter of a few weeks, the OSMV may be swamped with thousands of applications. And then what happens? What happenes when the IRP trickle becomes a flood?

The government was caught off guard when the new articles came out explaining that the Remedial Requirements are in fact discretionary and not automatic. Thousands of people closely follow the developments on the IRP laws. Many people feel that the IIP and RDP requirements are grossly unfair. Many people want to take this on.

From a purely logistical stand point, we think that the OSMV will have difficulty dealing with the flood of people seeking a review of their case to lift the Remedial Requirements. It seems to us that they will have no choice but to generate a new set of standards within their office to decide who is forced to get an Interlock and do the RDP and who is exempt.

The IRP trickle is becoming a flood. If you’ve been waiting for relief from the RDP and Interlock, we think that the time has come to force the OSMV to make a change.

The BCDL lawyers are taking on these cases. Call us if you want to take a stand against the unfair IRP laws.