“Missed Court Date For Driving While Suspended”

Ill try to keep this short and sweet. I was driving in Calgary in December and got pulled over speeding. When my license was ran by the officer it was found that my license was suspended due to unpaid fines. I received a fine for driving 19 over, and a summons to appear in court. I did not go to court since I was only in town for a few days. I received a notice in the mail a few weeks later stating that I had been fined $300ish for my speeding and that was all that I was found guilty for. I paid my fine as well as my other unpaid fines and assumed that was the end of it and that I had gotten off lucky.

Fast forward to about 3 months ago, I was pulled over while driving home at 5am from Toronto. I had not done any drinking and was not driving suspiciously at all. I was stopped at a red light driving a friend's car (he was with me and had been drinking, hence why i was driving his vehicle for him). The cop was stopped behind us and as soon as the light turned green he turned on the sirens and pulled us over. He came to the window and I handed him my license and the vehicle info before he asked for it. He did not say why he pulled us over. Anyway, to the point... upon running my info he found my license to be suspended dating back to August of 2010. He came back and chatted with us a bit, he was a nice guy. He issued me a summons to appear in court and oddly... rather than having the vehicle towed or having me, a sober but suspended licensed driver he asked my friend if he thought he could drive him. this was after we had given the officer the story of why i was driving... because my drunk friend was... well, drunk. so yes, he drove the vehicle the rest of the way home which was less than 10km, the officer followed to ensure our safe arrival ( i assume?). I was out of town on business for the court date and completely forgot to notify anybody that I needed to reschedule.

my questions...

1) what is likely to have happened at the secondary court date that i missed and why have I not recieved any information in the mail about it? The court date was over 6 weeks ago.

2) is it possible that the case was thrown out or dropped based on something the officer did/said after i was pulled over?

3) has ontario stopped mailing out fine and suspension information to drivers?? Because I have apparently been suspended since last august and the only notice i have recieved in the mail is one stating that i owe Alberta approx. $325 for speeding out of province.

4) What do i do now? Lets say there is a warrant out for my arrest because of missing court dates, which is both possible and likely, I obviously want to avoid being arrested... how do i go about finding out the status of my license, paying off my fines, reinstating my license, etc.

I appreciate your help! I know that I have been irresponsible and absolutely deserve whatever fate is waiting for me. I have made my bed and must now sleep in it. So please resist the urge to tell me how stupid I have been (see display name) Thanks in advance!

wow thanks for your help guys! great forum, glad I joined. This site has been so very helpful.

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE!?!?

Sounds like you missed the "1st appearance date" for your court. Call the court or stop in and inquire when your next court date is