Last week we told you about Kyla’s BC Supreme Court success where the Court ruled that the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles (AKA RoadSafetyBC) did not have the power to grant indefinite extensions of the time to render a decision in IRP cases. Instead of making the system more fair, they made it less fair. And […]
No straight answers from the BC Government Continue Reading »
The results of a request we made for RoadSafetyBC documents shows clearly that the Government doesn’t want you to know how they decide your IRP. You may remember that the Government amended the IRP scheme to allow the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles to rely on his own self-made evidence, called “technical materials” about a year
The secret of how they decide your IRP Continue Reading »
Back in January, a challenge was made to some unsuccessful IRP decisions. What had happened — and some of our readers were in this situation — was that following the Wilson and Richardson decisions from the BC Supreme Court, the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles stopped rendering decisions. [T]he circumstantial evidence referred to by the petitioner
Bad taste in my mouth Continue Reading »
The Immediate Roadside Prohibition scheme has been a series of failures right from the start. One of the dumbest things that the BC Government did with the IRP scheme was to make everyone who was issued a 90-day driving prohibition get an interlock in their car for a year. It was shortsighted and they knew
Shortsighted and they knew it Continue Reading »
We’ve alluded several times on our blog to the fact that we take heat for what we do. We are outspoken, critical of government, and skeptical about much of the Government propaganda related to impaired driving. What we haven’t told you has been the extent to which we have had to defend our positions. This
Government spin and censorship Continue Reading »
You’d think that after years of fighting the Government on the IRP scheme we would become desensitized to the crazy and obstinate things that Government does. But every once in a while they do something absurd that shocks us yet again. Last week was another example of shocking Government action. If the Government can just
The Government never ceases to amaze us Continue Reading »
We’ve written before about some of the ways that RoadSafetyBC’s tribunal impedes access to justice. The seven-day time limit to file for review of the IRP (with currently no opportunity for an extension) is a good example of this. Or the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles recent decision to no longer allow for supplemental submissions after
Justice – swift, severe, and all in 30 minutes or less Continue Reading »
KAMLOOPS – New legislation proposed by the B.C. Liberals this week throws out the presumption of innocence and instead presumes people accused of impaired driving are guilty until they prove otherwise, says a Vancouver defence lawyer specializing in impaired driving. Lawyer Kyla Lee says the proposed legislation must be challenged. “In every case now people
Proposed legislation will strip presumption of innocence Continue Reading »
Just before Christmas we issued a Red Alert. We try not to be alarmist, but every once in a while the Government does something that requires a significant response. In this case, we needed to alert the people who read our blog of the letter we received from RoadSafetyBC. This is what the letter said:
Red Alert update Continue Reading »
Because we deal with so many Immediate Roadside Prohibition review hearings, we recognize patterns in the decisions. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. There is a requirement for adjudicators and administrative tribunals to be consistent in decision-making. The RoadSafetyBC tribunal should be no different.[pullquote][/pullquote] It has been the subject of so much discussion from our
RoadSafetyBC issues and solutions Continue Reading »
Even lawyers like us, who deal with RoadSafetyBC each day, find this particular government office an unanswered puzzle. You may recall that back in May the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles officially changed its name to RoadSafetyBC. The name change, although presumably intended to express clarity of purpose, seems to further highlight the
The role of RoadSafetyBC Continue Reading »
We got the sense that the Government hates lawyers. We came to this conclusion because of the crappy legal aid funding situation, legislation the Government introduced that prohibits people from being represented by a lawyer in some circumstances and utterances on BC Government websites designed to discourage people from hiring a lawyer to defend their
Lawyers and the IRP scheme Continue Reading »
