Q&A - Late Dispute Not Allowed

Q&A ImageI was pulled up into a turn lane at a traffic light with one car in front of me. The light turned green but he did not move. I put my truck into park and got out see what the matter. He was texting.

We had an argument and I knocked his mirror off accidently by swinging my hand to motion him to go.

He reported me to police and ICBC contacted me through the plate number on the traffic camera. A police officer gave me the ticket from what he saw on camera. $196 plus 6 points.

This has now affected my truck driving job.

I mailed a notice of dispute but it got lost in mail so I was deemed convicted.

I filed an affidavit in court registry for a late dispute but it was denied. I phoned ICBC to ask why. The woman I spoke with didn't understand why it would be denied she told me to submit another affidavit.

This sounds a bit odd to me, does it say why the request was denied?

In reply to by DriveSmartBC

Jp had stamped it saying denied it's too late .made no sense

I can't document as it was from February I phoned violation ticket Centre they said they don't have a copy they told me to contact Richmond BC Court Registry see if they can help .VTC also told me I have to appeal the decision in federal court on affidavit for late dispute that was denied for being too late . This is getting more complicated not knowing were my rights are and what to do

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I understand the process as follows:

If you get a violation ticket and don't take some action within 30 days it is treated as not disputed and you are deemed to be convicted. The indicated penalty is now due.

If the non-response is due to something beyond your control, you can complete an affidavit asking to have the deemed conviction set aside and can then dispute. The JP that accepts the affidavit can choose to set aside the conviction or let it stand depending on the circumstances. The Violation Ticket Center told me that you should have received a document with the JP's reasons for the decision on it.

If I understand you correctly, this is the point that you are at now. We just don't know what the JP's reasons were for the denial.

The next step for review would be the BC Supreme Court.

The system is outlined in Section 16 of the Offence Act:

https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96338_01

In reply to by DriveSmartBC

I don't really think I should have to appeal .I have to call the court house to see if I can get a copy of the reply letter from jp . A friend suggested I write a letter to superintendent of motor vehicle stating what happen and that I drive transport truck for a living  and had 6 points prior to this ticket which added another 6 points on my class 1 license which effects my job which I'm now laid off and will have a hard time finding another considering most trucking companies don't want to see more than 6 points.

The Superintendent cannot do anything about this for you, nor can ICBC. This is something that you have to follow through the court system now via the court registry.

Anonymous chose to share some of the contents of the affidavit form PTR020 with me to help advise him.

The JP that reviewed the affidavit marked it denied because "Matter too old. Would be prejudicial to public."

The criteria for review is as follows:

(2.1) Before making an order under subsection (2) allowing a dispute to proceed, a justice must be satisfied that

(a) through no fault of the defendant, he or she did not have an opportunity to dispute the allegation or the amount of the fine,

(b) the defendant had a genuine intention to dispute the ticket before the dispute period under subsection (1) expired,

(c) no undue prejudice will result from the extension of the dispute period,

(d) the defendant has an arguable defence to the violation ticket, and

(e) it is in the interests of justice to allow the dispute to proceed.

It doesn't really seem fair if the delay resulted from waiting for the hearing date, especially if there were no adjournments requested by the defence. Only 6 weeks elapsed between the deemed conviction and the submission of the affidavit.

The next step still remains a review by a higher court.

I  feel the same way about drivers texting, but they are mostly an inconvenience at the lights. Not worth the hassle.

Likely the wrong person was penalized. I regret not allowing my passenger in taking action at a red light while following a drunk driver. He wanted to drag him out of the truck-would he have been charged, ? Two Kilometers up the road, minutes later, the drunk hit and killed an 11 year old boy riding on the side of the road on his bike.Nothing you can do after the fact except testify in court. My friend 's health was deeply affected by this. I think about this sometimes.The wrong decision, not to intervene.

Surely- ICBC has this situation wrong. Give the person trying to do the right thing- a break