When you are arrested and charged with impaired driving, you will incur an automatic 90-day license suspension. Although you cannot prevent this consequence, you can still fight the charge to avoid the one-year suspension that will come with a conviction.
In most cases, impaired driving charges will be dropped by the court for two reasons:
The most common plea bargain offered in DUI cases involves the Crown agreeing to drop the DUI charge as long as the defendant agrees to plead guilty to the lesser careless driving charge. Although you will still face penalties for a careless driving conviction, it is a provincial regulatory charge instead of a criminal offence.
If you are facing license suspension, it may be better to accept a dangerous driving charge.
If you are convicted of dangerous driving instead of DUI, you will be able to avoid a criminal conviction and criminal record. This deal is most common in cases where possible constitutional or legal falls exist. This deal may also be offered when the defendant’s BAC is close to the legal limit.
After agreeing to this deal, you will often have a one-year license suspension. However, you may qualify for exceptions to your suspension that will allow you to drive to work. If you have a criminal DUI conviction, on the other hand, most provinces prohibit any exceptions to the driving ban.
The Crown Attorneys may offer defendants a dangerous driving option for different reasons. The Crown is responsible for prosecuting DUI cases only when it is in the public interest. Any doubts may encourage the Crown to offer a deal.
For example, if the BAC reading is close to the legal limit, which ranges from .09 to .11, the legitimacy of the blood alcohol test comes into question. This may give the defendant’s lawyer an opportunity to convince the Crown that criminal prosecution isn’t in the public interest.
The defendant’s circumstances may also cause the Crown to offer this deal. If the defendant has a job and provides support to a family, the Crown may be reluctant to give the defendant a criminal record that may force him or her to lose a job.
The Highway Traffic Act defines careless and distracted driving as driving without reasonable consideration for others on the road or driving without due attention and care. In essence, careless and distracted driving is a catch-all charge that covers a wide variety of possible offences. Some people have even said that the careless and distracted driving charge could apply to most situations even if every moving violation was removed from the Highway Traffic Act.
Careless and distracted driving is the second most frequent charge given under the Highway Traffic Act. Only speeding tickets are more common than this charge. It is also one of the most serious charges under this law. In addition, because the charge contains such generalized language, it is easier for prosecutors to convict than other, less serious driving charges that require more evidence.
If you are convicted of careless driving, you may incur a fine of $400 to $2000. You may also spend up to six months in jail.
In certain circumstances, the court has the authority to suspend your license for as much as two years. In addition to these legislative penalties, you may also face other consequences if you are convicted.
If the court elects not to suspend your license, you may accumulate six demerit points for a careless driving conviction. The Ministry of Transportation may suspend your license for various amounts of time, depending on the total number of demerit points on your record and your license classification.
In some cases, a careless driving charge may even fall under “race or stunt driving” legislation. If this occurs, you may face a license suspension of up to two years, time in jail and fines of up to $10,000.
It is possible to lose your license for a variety of reasons, but all suspensions are serious. The different types of suspension include:
You may incur a license suspension if you have any of the following criminal code convictions:
After your first criminal code conviction, you will receive a license suspension of one year.
After your first criminal code conviction, you will have a three-year license suspension. After your third conviction, you will receive a lifetime license suspension. However, if you fulfill certain requirements, you may qualify to have your license reinstated after 10 years.
After your fourth criminal conviction, you will have a lifetime license suspension with no opportunity for reinstatement.
Criminal code convictions stay on your driving record for at least 10 years. If the court believes it to be necessary for road safety, it may order a longer suspension.
Several different remedial measures exist. If you blow in the warning range of .05 to .08 repeatedly and you incur a second license suspension, you may need to take a mandatory alcohol education course. You must complete this course within 120 days after your suspension. If you have a third suspension, you must complete a mandatory alcohol-treatment program within 180 days of the suspension. All drivers convicted of criminal code offences related to impaired driving must complete the mandatory Back on Track program.
If you are convicted of a criminal code offence that isn’t related to impaired driving, you must complete a driver improvement interview. If your criminal code conviction involved a license suspension, your license will remain under suspension until you have completed all of your remedial requirements.
If your license is suspended, you are not permitted to drive under any circumstances. The first time you are convicted of driving with a suspended license, you will owe a fine of $1,000 to $5,000. For second and subsequent convictions occurring within five years, you will owe a fine of $2,000 to $5,000. You may also spend up to six months in jail, and your current license suspension will be extended by six months.
If you are convicted of driving with a license suspension that was related to a criminal code offence, your first offence will involve a fine ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. For second and subsequent offences occurring within five years, you will face a fine ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. In addition, your conviction will carry an additional license suspension of up to three years and up to two years in prison.
Under a criminal code conviction, license suspension is a prohibition order. If you are convicted of violating the order, your license may be suspended for an additional year for your first offence or two years for subsequent offences. In some cases, courts can order longer prohibitions.
If your license is suspended, you may have to pay a fee to have it reinstated. If your driver’s license was suspended for administrative or medical reasons, you won’t have to pay this fee.
Ontario law requires seven-day impoundments to counter the dangers of suspended and impaired driving in the following situations:
If you are caught while driving under a license suspension related to a Criminal Code offence, the vehicle involved will be impounded for at least 45 days. The vehicle will be impounded regardless of whether you own it or not. For example, if you rented or leased the vehicle, are using it for employment purposes or even borrowed it from a friend or family member, it will still be impounded. Before the vehicle can be released, the owner will be required to pay all storage and towing costs. This policy applies to all types of vehicles, including passenger cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles.
The law requires doctors to report the names and contact information of anyone 16 years old or older who has any condition that affects his or her ability to operate a vehicle safely.
For example, if your doctor knows that you have an addiction to drugs or alcohol, he or she must report these concerns to the Ministry of Transportation. Depending on the situation, your license may be suspended until you can provide new medical evidence showing that your condition will not pose any risks.
The court may suspend your license in any of the following situations:
For your first offence, you can incur a license suspension of up to 30 days. For your second offence, you can occur a license suspension of up to 60 days. For third and subsequent offences in a five-year period, you may have a license suspension of up to one year.
In the following situations, you will receive a 90-day administrative driver’s license suspension:
If you receive this type of license suspension, it becomes effective immediately and is separate from any prosecution that may follow. Depending on the situation, the suspension may become effective at the police station or on the side of the road.
If you receive an administrative driver’s license suspension, an administrative monetary penalty will also be imposed.
The law assumes that any driver with a blood-alcohol concentration in the range of .05 to .08 poses a risk to other people on the road and themselves. If you are caught operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol level in this range, your license will be suspended immediately. The suspension will last:
If your license is suspended for registering in the warn range, you will also owe an administrative penalty.
You may have your driver’s license cancelled if:
If your license is suspended, the suspension itself may have an effect on your insurance rate. The exact effect varies by company. In most cases, the insurance provider will look closely at your record to determine whether a rate increase is necessary.
If you are charged with driving while under license suspension, any provider will take it seriously. This type of charge will have some of the worst insurance rates consequences of any charge under the Highway Traffic Act. In fact, the consequences are often similar to an impaired driving conviction.
In every hit and run investigation, one of the most important objectives is to find the car that caused the accident and identify the driver. The goal of the investigator is to find out who, what, when, where and how the accident occurred.
After identifying the vehicle and the driver, the police usually ask the driver to tell them how the accident occurred. During this time, the police may lead the driver to believe they are trying to “help” and that they just want to understand what happened.
The police will also warn the driver that anything he or she says during the conversation can and will be used against them in a court of law. If you make a statement to the police after a hit and run accident, the police will use your statement to provide that you left the scene of the accident.
If you have been involved in a hit and run accident, seek legal advice from an experienced lawyer before you make any statements to the police.
For a successful prosecution, the most important piece of information the police need is the driver’s identity. If the driver admits to his or her involvement in the accident at any time, he or she will be giving the police what they need to get a conviction.
