OHTA.ca

So last night I ran into a ride program in Toronto at Bloor going onto the 404. I was honest and said I had one beer about two hours ago, she did a breathalizer, she said I was fine to go, what I blew wasn't bad, and she just said okay go wait in your car I am just going to input that you did take one. But the problem was I only have my G2, so I'm not allowed any alcohol. When she came back to the car she felt so bad and said you were good to go if you had your G, I'm so sorry. I feel horrible about this, obviously. She ended up just letting my friend drive who had two drinks, but had their G and ended up blowing all zeros.

So I was given a $110.00 ticket. The offence was Class G2 License holder - (6 months or more) - BAC above zero.

She was really nice about it and said she felt bad she had to give me a ticket because I was so nice but it was just because of my G2 license I'm not allowed to have anything. She basically said I could do whatever I like, I almost felt like she was hinting to fight it, because she really didn't want to give me the ticket.

Looking online it's really hard to find out how this will affect me. I just want to know, if I don't fight it, what will happen. Do I now have a criminal record? Will it go on my record at all? And do I get charged anymore than the $110.00? And would this affect my insurance?

Also, if I fight it, does it get cleared completely off my record and if I fight it does it still affect my insurance?

I was also wondering, when going to fight it, in this situation would I need a lawyer? I assume I could just go on my own?

I'm just trying to look for some answers, anything would help, thanks!

It is a Provincial Offence, not Criminal Code offence, so no criminal record. Upon conviction the offence will go on your driving abstract.

The gradutating licence system allows for young/inexperienced drivers to demonstrate that they are responsible to be on any highway by following extra driving conditions/restrictions. Therefore the government has taken a serious approach to violations and a conviction for a violation of any novice condition will result in a 30 day licence suspension on top of the fine.

You were lucky as the licence should have been suspended immediately for a 24hr period (which is for novice drivers with alcohol above zero)

48.2.1 (11) (a) if the young driver provides a sample of breath that on analysis registers "Presence of Alcohol" or otherwise indicates that the young driver has alcohol in his or her body, shall surrender the drivers licence for 24 hours from the time the request is made;

AJG_CA wrote:

Will it go on my record at all? And do I get charged anymore than the $110.00? And would this affect my insurance?

Also, if I fight it, does it get cleared completely off my record and if I fight it does it still affect my insurance?

I was also wondering, when going to fight it, in this situation would I need a lawyer? I assume I could just go on my own?

This would go on your driving record and can be seen by your insurance company if convicted. My guess is that an insurance company probably will not look favourably at all on this but I can't say 100% for sure. If you fight the ticket and win it's just like it never happened and the insurance company doesn't find out unless you really want to tell them.

If you do choose to fight the ticket (I suggest you should try), do not pay for a fully licenced lawyer. If you fight the ticket on your own I'd personally say you stand a reasonable chance of pleading to a lesser offense based on your honesty at the very least. However, if you don't feel comfortable fighting the ticket on your own you may want to consider hiring a paralegal. Just be aware that paralegals aren't overly cheap and very often will just plead to a lower offense (which you can generally get on your own).

For help on how to proceed with fighting your ticket I suggest taking a look at http://www.ticketcombat.com it is a fairly good resource that will help you out.

Some years back, in Sudbury, there was a G2 driver who blew something like 0.03 after mowing down some drunken teens, walking down the middle of an unlit highway, wearing dark clothes. He ended up with criminal charges. Chances are he wouldn't have been charged with anything had he blown 0.