Why You Should Keep Your Licence
Driving is an essential part of modern life for most adults of working age. It allows us to get to work, run errands, and visit loved ones with ease. It’s important to remember that in Canadian law driving is now considered a privilege, not a right. That’s why it’s crucial to keep your driver’s licence and driving privileges intact.
There are many ways in which you can lose your licence. The most crushing for most people is a DUI. If you are issued a 90-day prohibition under BC law (usually an IRP), you lose your licence on the spot and in most cases, they seize your vehicle for 30 days. In other cases, the driving prohibition may come with some warning because it flows from court convictions or paying traffic tickets.
In either case, the reasons you should keep your licence matter most to you. Chances are you need to drive to earn a living. Watching your vehicle on the back of a tow truck is particularly distressing knowing your daily obligations.
Where does your need to drive come into play?
When it comes to 90-day Immediate Roadside Prohibitions (IRPs) and Administrative Driving Prohibitions (ADPs), the government wrote the law with the specific statement that your need to keep your licence cannot be considered. It is surprising to many people (especially people who don’t hire a lawyer and then lose their hearing) that the adjudicators will outright reject any argument on why you need to keep your licence.
Some would argue that this is nonsensical. Each person suffers the consequences of a driving prohibition differently and so each person’s personal considerations should come into play.
Moreover, in some circumstances, the prohibition has harsh consequences for society, such as when a pediatric heart surgeon is prohibited from driving and has no way to get to the hospital in an emergency.
These things happen. Yet the government wrote the IRP and ADP law so that your need to keep your licence cannot be considered.
When it comes to prohibitions for tickets or points on your driving record, and certain offences in court, your need to keep your licence may come into consideration.
For example, when we write to explain the reasons that a proposed driving prohibition for points should be cancelled or shortened, usually we will include the relevant details about the impact of the proposed driving prohibition. The tribunal will consider it and often it is a factor in the decision. The key is to lay it out correctly as part of the submission and evidence for the tribunal. You get one opportunity to make your case and because this is one of the considerations, we cover it carefully and often extensively when we prepare our submissions.
How can you get your licence back?
If you are facing a driving prohibition, you are facing a crisis. We understand. Our entire law office is structured to get the job done as quickly as possible to protect your licence or help you get your licence back as soon as possible.
Depending on the type of driving prohibition (call us so we can look at exactly which type you’ve got) we start working immediately to either establish why you should keep your licence because the prohibition should be revoked or because your personal circumstances weigh in favour of cancelling any impending driving prohibition.
We understand and we’re here to help right now
We understand your need to keep your license. It matters to us. Each type of driving prohibition requires immediate action. We can help you. That’s our job. If you’ve received a driving prohibition or lost your license for any reason, call us right away.