Can I appeal a suspended licence ? I REALLY need some help!

I recently got a letter in the mail stating that my driver's licence was suspended for not paying a traffic fine. The fine was for speeding at just 5 km/hr over the limit. It was a very very small fine with no points but I didn't pay the fine by the due date. Shortly after I get a letter in the mail saying my licence has been suspended and I have to pay all outstanding fines plus a $150 reinstatement fee. I honestly feel that I should have gotten a warning before they suspended my licence. I feel that the suspension was too severe for such a small traffic ticket. I wanted to know if there's any way I can get the suspension off my record. Can anyone offer some advice ? I'd be grateful for any assistance. Thanks.

Whether you think the suspension is to severe or not does not matter. HTA tickets not paid result in suspended tickets do matter the cost.

You knew you got the ticket and Chose to not pay it or fight it. The predicament you are in is purely a result of your decisions.

You could try and get it re-opened and fight it but I have not that work when people have chosen to ignore the ticket but what the hell . I do think that you need to pay all outstanding fees first.

OPS Copper

The fine has been paid in full. I don't have an issue with paying a fine. If a person receives a ticket then obviously a fine is charged. My issue is suspending a person's licence over such a small fine and not even sending him a letter in the mail first warning him that his licence will be suspended if the fine isn't paid. To suspend one's licence shortly after a minor traffic fee was due without even a notice in the mail warning of an upcoming suspension I believe is unfair. Do you see where a person might be disappointed with the justice system when such a thing happens ?

Not really I have managed to drive for the last 25 years, and yes I have gotten tickets(lots of them) and i have always managed to pay them and not get m DL suspended...

The alternative is we could go like the USA and just issue warrants for unpaid tickets and haul people off to jail.

OPS

If someone's fine is going to be increased dramatically from what it originally was (as was done in my case) and on top of that to charge them a $150 fee to reinstate their licence after suspending them, that person at the very least deserves a letter in the mail beforehand warning them that a suspension is coming if the fine isn't paid soon. That's the respectable thing to do. To dramatically increase someone's fine from a very minor ticket without even a warning, to charge them a $150 reinstatement fee, and to suspend their licence on top of all of that is what makes people upset at the justice system, and only proves that the system is more interested in capitalism and their revenues than treating people fairly.

Why not just increase the fine to cover court costs and a late fee on top of that ? Why the need to suspend their licence for such a small offence ? It's entirely unjustified.

I disagree. It's not unreasonable to suspend your licence for failing to pay your fines. The onus is on you to make sure your licence is in good order. Driving is a privilege, not a right. I don't see why you feel that it's the governments responsibility to send you a warning letter. especially since they do automatically send a letter notifying you that your licence is suspended. You may not have got it but they did send it and they will be able to produce a certified copy of that record if it comes to a trail for Drive While Under Suspension. This letter is a favour from them to prevent you from driving with a suspended licence.

I also don't see the need to set a limit as to how much unpaid fines are worth of a licence suspension. If you have unpaid fines, you should have your licence suspended. I think that the majority of people who do pay their fines and keep their licences in good order would agree.

Epad wrote:

Why not just increase the fine to cover court costs and a late fee on top of that ? Why the need to suspend their licence for such a small offence ? It's entirely unjustified.

Well you never paid the small fine so why would you pay the increased fine? The suspension is an inducement that forced you to pay the fines so i would say it worked.

ops

In every other matter that I know of if a person is late on a payment they get a letter in the mail advising them to pay or their services will be cut. That's what's done if your cable bill is overdue, a utility bill, a credit card bill, etc. If I miss a payment on my electricity bill they're not going to cut off my electricity if the bill hasn't been paid. They'll send me a letter advising me to pay it and if I don't then they'll cut my electricity. And I believe they'll add a late fee on top of that. This is the reasonable thing to do. It's also the respectable thing to do which is why so many others do it. You would be hard pressed to find anyone else who would suspend you almost immediately from their services because of a very minor late payment. It's unjustified. A letter should have been sent out first advising of the pending suspension if payment isn't received shortly with a late fee on top of that.

It still feels like you're complaining because the MTO didn't cut you ENOUGH slack for your unpaid fines. A warning letter is a courtesy, yes, but I still don't see why you can't be responsible for paying your fines like everybody else and accepting the consequences (that apply to everybody else as well) if you don't.

If a person has multiple fines that are unpaid and they wish to suspend a person's licence that's one thing. But in my case it was only 1 fine which was literally under $20 and they decided to suspend my licence almost immediately after the due date past. Of course I'm complaining considering the circumstances. To suspend a licence because of that is unjustified considering a simple letter in the mail would have sufficed along with a late fee.

if the fine was so small, why didn't you just pay it?

No I think the system works pretty well as it is. Forces most people to pay their fines or no DL.

Don't want a license suspended. Pay fines owed. ( or at least make payments)

Pretty simple

Your DL suspension is your fault and no one elses. You got a ticket and did nothing about it.

Now that action has a consequence....

OPS

Every action has a reaction or a consequence. I understand that. My only point is that the consequence should fit the crime. There can be any number of reasons why the payment for the fine might be late. If you get a parking ticket and don't pay it on time then you get a letter in the mail reminding you and on top of that they increase the fine. They don't suspend your licence. Why does it not work the same way for a traffic ticket ?

Parking offences go onto a vehicle, not directly into the hand of the owner, a follow up letter is sent (for an excuse maybe the owner was not driving or the offence notice blew off the window), whereas a ticket is handed directly to the person charged.

You make it sound like you never got any advance warning that your licence would be suspended if you did not pay the (small) ticket. Well sorry to say, You Did! If you look at the back of your Offence Notice (see generic below)

The first line that starts with IMPORTANT. It goes on to say if not paid or otherwise in 15 days you will be convicted yadda yadda and your drivers licence may be suspended.

In summary you state it was small fine and should have been easily paid. If that was still too much of a burden at once Option 2 addresses more time to pay. And clearly you had advance notice that you may be suspended if no response in 15 days. Unfortunately you made your bed and now you must lie in it. No one to blame but yourself.

If there was no real consequence for failure to pay, why would anyone pay a small fine? At what point would we cut it off? Also, The Stig points out that there was a warning on the offence notice. I'd be willing to be that in 80% of the cases, a written warning would still not compel the driver to pay the fine, so why waste the postage and paper? It may have spurred you to pay, but you'd be the exception rather than the rule.

Epad wrote:

In every other matter that I know of if a person is late on a payment they get a letter in the mail advising them to pay or their services will be cut.

They can, and often do, report the late payment to credit rating agencies like Equifax. So there is damage done even if the services are not cut.

The only thing you can really do at this point is pay the fine and the reinstatement fee to get your licence back. There is no way to appeal this particular suspension. It is an administrative issue and MTO will not remove it from your record.

Agreed; there should be consequences for unpaid fines. However, the consequences for not paying a traffic violation are inordinately severe, especially considering the potential repurcusions. Indeed, to suggest someone who doesn't pay a fine on time should face the same repurcusions as someone who's license was suspended because he/she's a bad driver is absurd.

While the suspension itself doesn't affect insurance (administrative suspension), if you're caught, you face some pretty absurd repurcusions--whether you knew it or not. And those repurcusions WILL result in a hefty increase of your insurance.

Recently, there was an article on the CBC (I think) indicating there as some 330,000+ people in Ontario who have suspended licenses. That's 3.75% of all licensed drivers. Scary statistic...until you consider the unpaid fines thing (and shame on CBC for not breaking it down...pure sensationalism...). How many of those drivers are suspended, and don't know?

The 'warning' given on the back of the ticket (and on the conviction notification sent in the mail) indicate only that it 'MAY' result in suspension. Not 'WILL'. If the MTO has automated their system so the suspensions letters are indeed sent out on the day the fine is due (which appears to be the case), this wording needs to be changed to ensure there is no question as to what the repurcusions will be.

Even then...30 days? THIRTY DAYS???? Really? It takes six MONTHS before Hydro can be shut off. And there are limitations to what they can do (it can only be limited, not shut off, in winter months). I'm guessing Gas is the same.

As it is, licenses expire every X years (five, I think?). Why not, instead of making criminals of everyone who doesn't pay a fine, prevent the person from being able to renew their license? No different than if I don't pay a parking ticket and try to renew my plates. At that point, you can be absolutely, unquestionably sure the person knows their license is expired, and the consequences are completely fair. But at least it would eliminate the 'I didn't know' factor. Even then, thet consequences of driving with an expired license are different than a suspended license, I think (though I can't find it in the HTA...must be filed under something other than 'expired').

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It might be a little too late in replying but this is an interesting issue.

Respectfully, I tend to agree with Epad and xjonathan . There are many reasons why someone didn't or couldn't pay a fine. Some of them are cover under the re-opening procedure. Others are not and yet they may have a logical and reasonable explanation.

The issue of notice is also important. The issue of gravity of the offence and the fine amount outstanding is also relevant.

It just seems to me that daddy government is just trigger-happy when it comes to grabbing money.

I don't think Epad explained how was he convicted in the first place. Was it at trial? Fail to respond? Did he receive a Notice of Fine and Due Date?

I think we are missing the real point here. The real issue is not whether he should have paid his fine on time, but whether or not a license suspension for not paying on time is appropriate.

He acknowledges that he should have paid the fine. He has not given a reason or excuse for not paying the fine. His point is -clearly- that the suspending his license is extreme and not justified. And I agree.

For instance, when a certain number of demerit points are attached to your record, the Ministry will send you letter either advising you that your license may be suspended or they ask you to attend to a meeting where you have to explain why your license should not be suspended.

After accumulating a high number of points, your license is suspended, initially for 30 days and longer with subsequent accumulation of demerit points.

I just don't see how a driver is given so much slack on driving offences -which may result in a dangerous driver on the road- and not to someone that, for whatever reason, did not pay a fine on time, particularly in this case. It's disproportionate and makes no sense. It confirms to me that traffic tickets are nothing but a cash caw for the State.

Simon Borys wrote:

Driving is a privilege, not a right.

Really? I know it is so stated in the HTA

Driving a privilege

31. The purpose of this Part is to protect the public by ensuring that,

(a) the privilege of driving on a highway is granted to, and retained by, only those persons who demonstrate that they are likely to drive safely; and

(b) full driving privileges are granted to novice and probationary drivers only after they acquire experience and develop or improve safe driving skills in controlled conditions. 1993, c. 40, s. 1.

But... Is it a privilege to get what you deserve by right?

If I pay my license fees, I'm covered by driving insurance and keep an impeccable driving record; can the government remove or suspend my driving license? Of course NOT. It's a rhetorical question. I have the right to hold a driving license not a privilege.

A privilege is extended to someone deserving it or not. A privilege is a special and exceptional.

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin privilegium law for or against a private person, from privus private + leg-, lex law

Date: 12th century

: a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor ; especially : such a right or immunity attached specifically to a position or an office

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/privilege

Cheers.

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