Drive Under Suspension
Every day while sitting in court , I over hear the prosecutor talking to a member of the public about their driving charges. How could you not? The room is small and the prosecutors tend to have a booming voice to get their points across. Quite often, I see people who are charged with the offence of Drive Under Suspension. This is not a common ticket where a person can simply pay a fine or choose to go to court or not. If charged, it is an automatic summons to appear in court and answer to the charge. Upon a first time conviction, you can face a minimum $1,000 fine and a Ministry of Transportation mandated 6 month suspension. If a person has been convicted before, the penalties can double or a person can even face jail time. Also, a conviction for Drive Under Suspension will show you are a huge liability to your insurer. You may find your rates double, triple or your policy may even be cancelled! I see far too many times people do not take this situation seriously.
The most common reason I find for Drive Under Suspension is a driver’s lack of due diligence upon receiving a simple ticket. They either chose to do nothing with the ticket or have forgotten about it. This would mean that an imposed fine has not been paid into court and the persons license is flagged for suspension. The driver may have also failed to notify the court of an address change and the court is relying on the address listed on the ticket. It is not widely known that the courts ICON(Integrated Court Offences Network) is not connected to the Ministry of Transportation’s system. A person can also face a charge of Drive Under Suspension for failing to adhere to their duties under the Family Responsibility Office (FRO).
If you find yourself charged with Drive Under Suspension, don’t hesitate to contact us at 905-235-4567 or email us at info@swlegalservices.ca . Don’t risk the unknowns and talk to a professional regarding your situation. A consultation is always free. More often than not, we are able to work out a resolution with the prosecutor to keep your good driving record. With a serious charge like this, why risk it.
Here’s an article on how a simple ticket can lead to a serious situation:
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