Driving Under Suspension
If charged with driving under suspension, do not panic. We have the requisite expertise to assist you maneuver through the complexity of the legal system. Our goal is to ensure your rights and privileges under the law are protected.
But first, let’s give you a little trip through the dense forest of the legal system so you will appreciate the need to contact Oppong Wiafe Legal Firm for legal assistance under such serious charge. To begin with, there are two ways one could be charged with driving under suspension: under the Highway Traffic Act and the Criminal Code of Canada.
Provisions under the Highway Traffic Act 53.1
Driving under a suspended license carries with it a serious punishment that includes possible jail time. Once your license is suspended, you are required by law to desist from exercising any driving privileges, that is, you are not allowed to drive until the suspension has been lifted and all fines cleared.
There is no exemption to this law. You are not expected to drive under any circumstances. In view of this, once found to be driving with a suspended license, there is a heavy price to pay.
If convicted of driving while your license is suspended for an Highway Traffic Act offence, if its the first time offence, you will have to pay a staggering fine between $1,000.00 and $5,000.00. You will appreciate the message this high amount wants to send: if suspended, don’t drive. For a second offence of the same kind within 5 year period, the $1,000.00 minimum is replaced with a $2,000.00 minimum.
The range for second time conviction is from $2,000.00 to $5,000.00. The Court can then order the offender to spend up to six months in jail. The Court can also order that you pay the fine and also serve a jail time. Aside this heavy punishment, six months will be added to your current suspension under which you were charged.
The Criminal Code of Canada
If you are found guilty of driving while your licence is suspended for a Criminal Code offence such as careless or dangerous driving causing bodily harm, the first offence has a penalty between $5,000 and $25,000.
If found guilty of a second offence within five years, the fine jumps to a range of $10,000 and $50,000. Additional one year suspension is added to the current one under which you were charged if it is the first time; a second offence also attracts two-year suspension, same under the Highway Traffic Act.
The criminal code, under the federal government also reserves the right beyond the Highway Traffic Act to punish the offender again. The offender faces a jail term of up to two years, if the action is a type described in the criminal code, and a further three-year license suspension also ordered. Under the Criminal code, the first time offender who is fined between $5,000.00 and $5,000.00, also faces up to two year jail term.
