One of the most commonly-asked queries we get from individuals who are concerned about driving prohibition letters is whether we have a sample driving prohibition appeal letter that they can use to respond to the pending driving prohibition. A sample letter in response to the prohibition is often requested by people who are concerned about losing their licenses, but also concerned about legal fees.
While it is open to people to write in to dispute their driving prohibitions themselves, I do not recommend this approach. I also do not recommend – if you are doing it yourself – using a sample letter as the basis of your submissions.
The reason why you do not want to use a sample letter of prohibition appeal is simple: the factors that the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles and ICBC consider in a dispute of a driving prohibition are specific to you. A sample letter in response to a driving prohibition is not specific to your case.
In determining whether the prohibition should be revoked or reduced, the Superintendent and ICBC consider the following: whether your need to drive outweighs the public interest in prohibiting you from driving.
To determine whether it is in the public interest to prohibit you from driving, factors like your driving record and the types of tickets you have are taken into consideration. If you have several tickets for one type of offence, like failing to signal your lane changes, a sample letter to appeal a driving prohibition that was based on too many speeding tickets is not really specific to your case.
Whether it is in the public interest to prohibit you from driving also involves a consideration of your experience. A more experienced driver, like a professional driver or a person who has had a license for many years, is going to be viewed differently than someone with less experience. A sample letter of prohibition cannot address your relative level of experience driving, and so, therefore, will not help your case.
A driving prohibition appeal letter sample also cannot address the factors that are specific to you and your need to drive.
Some people require their licenses to get to and from work, while others require their license in the course of their work. A sample letter may simply state “I need my license for work” without explaining the unique details as to why you need your license to do your job. When we interview you in relation to your need to drive, we ask detailed questions about this so that we can fully explain the unique elements of your need to drive to ICBC. A sample letter cannot do that.
Similarly, a sample letter will not recommend homework that you can do to make your case more successful. Our office will speak to you about why you ended up getting the tickets that triggered the prohibition and suggest you take steps that may assist in showing that a driving prohibition is not necessary to change your behaviour.
In some cases, this may be an online driving course or a course dealing with something specific on your record, like distracted driving. If stress or anxiety were contributing to your driving, we may recommend counselling. Whereas if the matter is one of inexperience coupled with poor driving, more significant intervention may be required. This could include an actual in-car driving course.
If you have a lawyer assist you with disputing your driving prohibition, rather than using a driving prohibition appeal letter sample, your lawyer will actually develop a specific rehabilitation plan for you, and a specific series of steps that you can take in your case.
So while it may be tempting to use a sample letter of prohibition appeal in your case, do not give in to the temptation. This may actually put you at a disadvantage in your case.
