Q: New Driver & 12 Hour Suspension Consequences British Columba

Q: Hi, I have my n and I recently got a 12 hour suspension for having consumed alcohol and driven.

I blew a .04 and was given a 12 hour suspension to which the officer assured me I wouldn’t lose my license or anything by those means. But I am now being told by icbc I may very well lose it and that I can’t appeal or anything. I have driven with a perfectly clean record for 15 months before this incident. Do you think I will lose my license and is there anything I can do to protect myself from losing it. Thanks.

There is an excellent article about this very subject on the DriveSmartBC website.

Quote from Drive Smart BC article:

The Superintendent of Motor Vehicles will take action in the form of a driving prohibition for a period of 1 to 3 months.

The prohibition period increases if the driver incurs another prohibition or suspension. In addition, a new driver must be suspension or prohibition free for a period of two years in order to take the test to obtain a full privilege driver’s license.

The World Health Organization states that alcohol and driving without seat belts remain key factors in young driver crashes and resulting deaths and injuries. While not all drivers in the GLP are young drivers the 12 hour suspension is another tool to sanction those who choose to drink and drive.

Another quote from this government document

http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/osmv/shareddocs/driver-improvement-policies-guidelines.pdf

If a new driver receives one IRP, one 12-hour suspension, or one 24-hour prohibition they will receive driver improvement action.

 

Reference:

Driver Improvement Program

http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/364447/dippolicy.pdf

Carmen

Hey, I’m Carmen, a being from Earth who has loved cars & driving for many moons. I became an ICBC GLP (graduated licensing program) driving instructor at the age of 22 in North Vancouver, Canada. The beautiful ‘North Shore’ was such a dream location. I’ve been working on this here website since 2012 when I created it.