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DRIVING PROHIBITONSI am often contacted by truck drivers who have got themselves into an awful lot of hot water, driving-wise. They usually tell me that they were unaware of just how serious the repercussions could be for their bad deeds. The typical case goes something like this. It's Saturday night and our intrepid truck driver is driving home from the bar in his personal vehicle. He encounters the police and is brought to the station for a breathalyser test. He blows into the breathalyser and his reading exceeds .08. (Or, he refuses to blow into the breathalyser; the effect is the same.) This is what happens next. First, he receives a 24 hour driving prohibition. Second, he receives an administrative driving prohibition, meaning that after 21 days he will be prohibited from driving for the next 90 days. Third, he receives an Appearance Notice requiring that he attend at Court in about two months to face criminal charges of driving over .08 (or refusing to blow) and impaired driving. If he pleads guilty to those charges, or is convicted after a trial, then an automatic 12 month prohibition will be imposed, and 10 penalty points will be assigned to his licence. (It can take up to one year before the trial is held.) The administrative driving prohibition legislation came into force more than two years ago. Recently, the B.C. Court of Appeal decided that the legislation did not violate the Charter of Rights, and is accordingly valid. Although there is an ability to ask the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles to lift the administrative driving prohibition, the scope for doing that is very narrow and such applications rarely succeed. There is a great misconception out there that a special allowance can be made for truck drivers, allowing them to drive for work purposes during the period of their prohibition. This is not true! Truck drivers get no special break. Let me alert you to some of the other pitfalls in the Motor Vehicles Act. About two years ago, vehicle impoundment provisions came into force. If a person is found driving without a drivers licence or driving while prohibited, then the vehicle that he is driving will be impounded for 30 days. (Employers, when was the last time that you received updated drivers abstracts from the employees that drive your vehicles?) I have already mentioned the 12 month driving prohibition that arises from an over .08 conviction. There are other ways to find yourself prohibited from driving. For example, being convicted of the offence of dangerous driving or failure to stop at the scene of an accident under the Criminal Code will also result in a mandatory 12 month prohibition. If someone drives while prohibited, then the consequences are more severe than just a vehicle impoundment. The Motor Vehicle Act calls for a madatory seven days in jail, a $300 fine, a 12 month driving prohibition, and 10 penalty points. This applies regardless of how the prohibition arose and would include, for example, driving before a 24 hour prohibition has elapsed. There are other ways to have your driving privileges lifted. A driver may be suspended for owing money to I.C.B.C. for such things as unpaid fines, or because I.C.B.C. paid out on his behalf respecting an accident for which the driver was in breach of the terms of his insurance. The Superintendent may prohibit a person from driving for medical purposes or other purposes related to fitness. If a driver's privleges have been suspended in any other Province or in the U.S. the Superintendent may prohibit him from driving in B.C. One of the most common prohibitions arises when the Superintendent examines a driver's record and concludes that it is "unsatisfactory" -- such prohibitions usually last for one to four months. There is no mandatory driving prohibition for convictions for offences such as "driving without due care and attention". But, the Court still has a discretion to impose a prohibition, if it thinks it appropriate in the circumstances. I have even read recently that as of November 1, 1998, parents who are more than $3,000 behind in child support payments may be unable to renew their driver's licences. The legislation is quite detailed and I have, in many respects, only glossed over it in this article. It is not my intention to preach to you. But, I hope I got the message across about just how serious is the risk to your livelihood if you should get into this type of trouble. In my experience, it is not uncommon for truck drivers who face a lengthy driving prohibition to also face bankruptcy and financial ruin. John Drayton is a Kamloops lawyer practicing in the areas of motor transport and forestry law. Back to Articles Index
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