Almost every driver knows how it works if you're pulled over by a police officer. You safely stop your car on the shoulder of the road, the officer walks up and asks for your licence, registration and insurance. The New Brunswick RCMP's Tactical Traffic Enforcement Unit is encountering a growing number of drivers who are driving with a suspended licence.
In the past two years, I myself have stopped more than 60 drivers with suspended licences. In 2016, the New Brunswick RCMP stopped and charged 1,037 suspended drivers. So far this year, we have charged 1,004 people for driving with an suspended licence, and the year isn't over yet.
Suspended drivers are not people who simply forgot to renew their driver's licence. Most of the time, they have had their driving privileges revoked for serious reasons.
One reason why drivers lose their licences is for impaired driving. Drivers who have a blood alcohol limit between 0.05% and 0.08% automatically have their licence suspended for seven days. If your blood alcohol limit is above that, or if you refuse to provide a sample, you lose your licence for 90 days and you vehicle will be impounded for a minimum of 30 days. If found guilty in court, you will lose your licence for a year or even longer, and be subject to a fine of at least $1,000.
People can also have their licence suspended if they fail to pay fines, if they're in arrears with child support payments, or if they've lost all the merit points on their driver's licence.
Many people believe they can avoid having their licence suspended by refusing to receive or open the letter from Public Safety, Motor Vehicle Branch, advising you that your licence is being suspended. That isn't true. Once the letter has been sent and the ten-day grace period is up, your licence is suspended regardless of if you physically opened the letter or not. We stop suspended drivers all the time who claim they didn't know their licence was suspended. It's not an excuse, and you will be charged.
A common misconception is that you can't have a licence from another province suspended for an offence in New Brunswick. Again, that's not the case. If you were, let's say, a Quebec driver caught speeding in New Brunswick and failed to pay the fine, your driving privileges could be suspended in New Brunswick. If you are caught driving in New Brunswick while suspended here – even if your licence is valid in your home province - you will be charged.
If you have a suspended driver's licence and you're caught driving anyway, you will face an additional minimum 12 month suspension, as well as a $500 fine plus court surcharge – and that's just for the first offence. If you're caught more than once, the fines will go up and you could face jail time.
Often, the Tactical Traffic Enforcement Unit stops a suspended driver who tries to hide the fact they don't have a valid driver's licence. They don't realize that police have the tools and equipment that allow them to confirm immediately whether or not someone should be driving. It doesn't matter how long your licence is suspended for, how remote of an area you live in, how short of a distance you're driving, or how infrequently you do so – if you are driving without a valid licence, you will be caught.
Suspended drivers who continue to drive are people who are not taking responsibility for their actions. Some continue to engage in the same dangerous behavior that led to their licence being suspended in the first place, including speeding and impaired driving, and that puts everyone on the road at risk.
If you know someone who is driving with a suspended licence, report it to your local police, or through Crime Stoppers.