If you get a Notice of Intent to Prohibit letter you can request a review. Writing a driving prohibition appeal letter is a daunting task, especially when your right to drive is on the line.
What makes the appeal even more intimidating is the fact that the procedure is vague. The Superintendent of Motor Vehicles holds all the cards when deciding the fate of your driving licence. It can be difficult to know where to start when drafting a driving prohibition appeal letter.
Most people simply do not know what factors the adjudicators for the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles consider in deciding whether to reduce or stay an intended prohibition. It does not help that RoadSafetyBC provides very little information about what to include. The only advice the government website provides is that an adjudicator may consider the applicant’s driving record and history, personal or financial hardship, family responsibilities, employment and other relevant information.
Why write a driving prohibition appeal letter?
Section 93(1) of the Motor Vehicle Act gives the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles, also known as RoadSafetyBC, the authority to prohibit a person from driving if it believes doing so would be in the interests of public safety. So if they have a number of penalty points, for instance, the Superintendent might decide they have an unsatisfactory driving record and issue them a Notice of Intent to Prohibit or a Notice of Prohibition letter.
The Superintendent of Motor Vehicles holds all the cards when deciding the fate of your driving licence.
A Notice of Intent to Prohibit letter is not in itself a prohibition but rather a warning that the Superintendent intends to take away your licence. The letter will state the length of the intended prohibition and will invite the driver to make further submissions to explain why the prohibition should be imposed. It does not, however, explain what the driver should include in their submissions or what the adjudicator will take into consideration.
You can accept the prohibition by signing the Notice of Intent to Prohibit and returning it with your driver’s licence. If you do nothing then you will get a Notice of Prohibition letter in the mail informing you that your prohibition has begun.
If you choose to dispute the Notice of Intent to Prohibit then you must act fast. You only have 21 days from the date on the letter to request a review. That means you need to make a driving prohibition appeal letter within those 21 days. If you send your submissions to the Superintendent in time, you are permitted to continue to drive until you receive a response.
What factors decide a Notice of Intent to Prohibit appeal?
There are many factors that an adjudicator will consider when deciding a Notice of Intent to Prohibit review. The big picture is that an adjudicator must balance the negative impact the prohibition might have on a person’s life against the potential benefit to public safety of removing them from the road.
The standard required for a Notice of Intent to Prohibit submission is ridiculously high. The applicant must satisfy the adjudicator that they have no other reasonable alternative to driving. As stated above, the factors the adjudicator will consider are the applicant’s driving record and history, personal or financial hardship, family responsibilities, employment and other relevant information.
It can be incredibly difficult for a person uninitiated with the bureaucratic nature of administrative driving matters to negotiate. Adjudicators will consider personal or financial hardship and employment, however, simply stating you need to be able to drive to work and earn money is not sufficient. You must provide evidence of the potential financial impact of the prohibition.
The same goes for family responsibilities. It’s not enough to say you need to drive to see your kids, for example. The adjudicator needs to be satisfied you have no other reasonable alternative.
What happens if you lose your Notice of Intent to Prohibit appeal
If you make submissions to RoadSafetyBC following a Notice of Intent to Prohibit letter and the prohibition is upheld, you can still appeal. The same goes if you receive a Notice of Prohibition.
Unfortunately, if you think the Notice of Intent to Prohibit process was difficult, the procedure for an appeal is even more so. You can seek a judicial review of the adjudicator’s decision, however, the Court is limited in its powers by Section 94 of the Motor Vehicle Act. Section 94 only permits a Court to either overturn or uphold the prohibition. So unlike the other appeal process, there is no option to reduce a prohibition. It’s all or nothing.
There is hope
If all this seems a little dispiriting, don’t quit just yet. You should consider hiring a lawyer. Acumen Law Corporation frequently deals with these matters. We can get your Notice of Intent to Prohibit stayed or reduced. Look for example, at this case in which an Acumen Lawyer successfully had a client’s prohibition stayed.
The Superintendent issued a Notice of Intent to Prohibit letter to the client who then provided submissions seeking a review. The prohibition was not overturned but it was reduced from three months to two. The appellant then applied to stay the prohibition.
Acumen Law Corporation lawyer Brandon Moscoe, acting as the applicant’s legal counsel argued the case at BC Supreme Court, was able to have the prohibition stayed.
A helping hand
If you have received a Notice of Intent to Prohibit letter that you plan to appeal it is imperative you act fast. You only have 21 days from the date on the letter to file your submissions. Disputing a driving prohibition from the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles can be difficult to do alone. A lawyer can provide you with the necessary help. They know how to prove the circumstances that will satisfy an adjudicator that they should stay or reduce a prohibition.
Acumen Law Corporation can help with your dispute. Our lawyers will craft your driving prohibition appeal letter and make submissions on your behalf. They can also help if you received a Notice of Prohibition letter. Call us on 604-685-8889.
How can I fight a notice of prohibition which was served due to malpractice based off the behaviour from a specific officer’s delusions and questionable accusations since I just finished getting my license reinstated after a previous driving prohibition. I have also been in a situation where I told a completely different officer that I needed my license for my job and just gave me the fine without the points so I could continue using my license for work and to provide for my daughter. Why couldn’t the one officer charge me for driving contrary to restrictions without the points and I could just pay the fine . The behavior one the specific officer included trying to make an arrest for failing to have front license plate and statements as “I want you off the road” and mentioning that the behavior was intolerable and that the officer was violating my human rights? The specific officer stated “what rights!” While he was using excessive force. Please I need help..
My life is being shattered by the police department, by the super intendant of motor vehicles. They’ve broke my last straw on the camels back, I’ve completely hit a 180 in my successful career path due to a number of horrid judgements and financial burdens. The cost of living has gone up and they just won’t quit. First of all the police gave me a dui for refusing a breathalyzer, they attacked me and gave me no option of a way out. They called me disgusting names like a pedophile, car thief and a criminal. My car was parked I wasn’t anywhere near it, but had my keys on hand. There was a broken bottles in front of my car, they wrote on the letter that I smelled like alcohol and admitted to drinking, when I wasn’t drinking at all. Then after thousands of dollars, I get my license back after I complete this course called the RDP (Responsible Drivers Program). My license suddenly got “cancelled” without a single letter of recognition stating that it was revoked or cancelled, I get pulled over a year and a half later, with another fine indicating I have no valid drivers license. Now I’m losing my license AGAIN! Restarting the “N” program for another 2 years, while in fact all of this money grabbing schemes and insane insurance rates are burning a hole in my forsaken bank account, that barely holds by with affording rent or to even eat! Can you believe this? All this just because I’m native and off-reserve. This is the kind of recognition I deserve because I try and better my life and move on from the past hardships the government and wrongful genocide they’ve all committed? And I’m the criminal? I’m sick of all the discrimination and hatred that is completely useless to my well-being and everyone else’s. There’s nothing anybody can do to change this behaviour. The fact I have to pay now a lawyer to write a letter and represent me in court because of two prejudice, inconsiderate, unlawful RCMP who rep Canada for its peaceful lifestyle of a country? This is completely bias, systematic racism and it’s real and I’m dealing with it today. There’s nobody out there to help me and I’ve fallen this deep writing on the acumen law corporation website in a desperate attempt to gain help. I hope this story goes international because everybody needs to know the officers responsible for the crimes they’ve committed. The people who work in enforcement to protecting citizens and not harassing and suspecting the innocent citizens of our country.