Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately this is a common occurrence as people are not generally aware that failing to pay a fine for a moving violation will result in a suspension. Being subsequently pulled over while your licence is suspended due to unpaid fines will result in a Drive Suspended charge being issued which as you have now become aware is a very serious charge. Please see our website for information on suspended licenses.
When you are given a Drive Suspended ticket by an Officer there is a court date on the ticket which you must attend and if you do not the court will schedule a trial date in your absence- and you will not receive any notification of this date. If you fail to attend the trial date then the court will run a trial in your absence called at ex-parti trial date. Unfortunately it sounds like this is what happened in your case. You can find out more about ex-parti trials here: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statue/90p33
The good news is that you can proceed with an appeal and there is a provision to have the suspension lifted while your appeal is being considered. We can certainly assist you with the appeal. We would recommend contacting our office to speak to one of our Agents for a free consultation so you can get accurate pricing and advice on what we can specifically do in your case.
Regards,
The Team at Ticket Defenders
Inquiry: I got a speeding ticket that I forgot to pay.
Officer pulls me over and
tells me my license is suspended because I have unpaid tickets. I pay the
tickets and pay the reinstatement fee. What I didn’t know is I had a
new charge of driving without a license that I had a court date for.
I get a letter in the mail that my license got
suspended for 6 months because I
missed a court date. They said I need to wait 6 months until I can
reinstate it. I travel out of the city daily for work. I’ll be ruined
if I can’t get it sooner. What can I do?