How to fight driving with a suspended license Ontario
Part 1: I didn’t know I was suspended
- How do you fight a driving with a suspended license charge in Ontario?
- This is an important topic because the penalties for driving with a suspended license in Ontario are severe.
- They include a mandatory 6-month driving suspension. And, in some cases, it can result in jail time.
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✅ Take our free Drive Suspend Penalty Test
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✅ Book a free, confidential meeting with lawyer, Dan Joffe
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- This article will cover what WON’T work when fighting your driving with a suspended license charge in Ontario.
- And that is, “I didn’t know I was suspended.”
- This is something we hear all the time from our clients.
- Here’s the logic behind the argument. “I would never have driven if I had known I was suspended.”
- Unfortunately, “not knowing” is not a legal defence. And that won’t help you beat your driving with a suspended license charge in Ontario.
- The law as it currently stands is that the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, known as the MTO, needs to generate a notice of your license suspension.
- And, at the appropriate time in your case, the MTO will need to prove that notice was generated.
- But, the MTO does NOT need to prove that you got the notice.
- The reasoning behind this is that driving is a privilege, not a legal right.
- For example, we all have a legal right to an education. But we don’t have a legal right to drive. Driving is a privilege.
- And, when something is a privilege, you need to be proactive in knowing that your license is valid at all times.
- Frustrating? Yes, but that is the law.
