Our challenge to the Interlock and RDP requirements

If you’ve followed the news and our blog, you know that our challenge to the ignition interlock and RDP requirements led to 1137 people being freed so far. The remedial requirements are discretionary according to the Motor Vehicle Act, the decisions of the ICBC OSMV tribunal and the deputy Superintendent. But the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles ordered everyone since September 20, 2010, to go through these so-called remedial programs.

We think that either the Government wrote the law this way to try and deceive the Court when it came to argue Sivia, or the OSMV was going rogue, making up the rules as they went along. Either way, the legislation indicates a discretion, their documents indicate a discretion and they weren’t applying any discretion. So it was all a pile of garbage.

In the last 10 days we have been contacted by well over a thousand people who received a 90-day IRP and who were forced to the remedial Programs (i.e. RDP and interlock) despite having spotless driving records. It’s so unfair. Many people are, understandably, very angry. They’ve been treated like dirt despite having respected the law all of their lives.

We get it. And we’re doing something about it.

Back in September we first learned about the group that encompassed the 1137. For us, as the law office devoted to taking on the IRP laws, it was surprising to learn about a class of people who had gone unnoticed. Now we’re looking at people in different situations depending where they are in the scheme.

In the last 10 days we were contacted by a large number of people who served the 90-day, paid the impound and storage and could never afford to go through the Remedial Programs. There are people who have not driven, sometimes for more than two years, who have lost thousands of dollars in income and, as a result, couldn’t properly feed or take care of their families. Despite the fact that they have perfect driving records, the OSMV wouldn’t allow them back on the road until they paid for the RDP (where does that money go?) and installed an interlock. This is what the BCLiberal Government calls their Family First Agenda.

For us these people are the new leading edge. The OSMV never bothered to exercise any discretion, despite the fact that so many have perfect driving records. These people are the start of this second part of our challenge to the Interlock and RDP requirements.

So many people contacted us in the last 10 days that we haven’t been able to get back to everyone. We are so thankful to everyone for their patience.

Many people have told us that our continued efforts to expose the IRP scheme has been something that kept them going during these dark years. We’re glad to help. It’s our burden too.

For the folks who couldn’t afford to do the remedial requirements, and those who refused to do them for the sake of taking a stand, you should know that the clock is now ticking.

We keep thinking of the lyrics from the Doors song Been Down So Long:

Well, I’ve been down so Goddamn long. That it looks like up to me.

If you feel that you’ve been down so Goddamn long, we hope that our challenge to the Interlock and RDP requirements provides you with some assurance that we’re trying to help you out. If you want to get in touch with us to see whether we can help you out, send us an email at [email protected]

We are still working to respond to all the emails and messages left for us last week. But we’re almost caught up. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.