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Without having her parents in the car, Naomi
will finally be able to have the independence to drive to school, to the mall,
and to the parties her friends throw every weekend, as long as she is back by
the curfew her parents have established for her. Although having her G2 will
allow Naomi to have some freedom, she is confused about the restrictions that
seem to be in place regarding those who hold a G2 license.
One Friday, Naomi is at a house party her friend
Kelly is hosting. Naomi arrives at 10:30 pm and everyone is drinking alcohol. Naomi decides to have one beer. [Please see the JFCY blog for issues related to alcohol. Please also read the newsletter that discusses houseparties. Underage drinking is illegal in Canada ,
and the age for legally drinking alcohol in Ontario
Just after midnight, Naomi decides she needs to
leave to make it home in time for her 12:30 curfew. She decides to drive her
friends Laura and James home, who live only a couple streets away from her. As
she is driving home, she accidentally drives through a stop sign she hadn’t
seen while going 35 kilometres over the speed limit. Much to her dismay, a
police car had spotted Naomi’s driving offences and pulls her over.
Naomi is terrified. She has never been stopped
by the police, and is afraid that on top of her traffic violations she has also
violated the restrictions placed on her G2 license.
Legal Information on G2 licenses:
The legal information deals with the G2 License rules in Ontario
The G2 License
rules come from regulations under the Highway
Traffic Act, specifically the Regulation called Driver’s
Licenses, which sets out most of the rules regarding G2 licenses.
Alcohol consumption
While driving with a G2 license, a driver of any
age is not allowed to consume any alcohol before driving. Also, all drivers under the age of 21 (regardless
of whether they have their full license) are not allowed to consume alcohol
before driving.
The penalties for driving with alcohol in your
system when under 21 or with a G2 can range from $60 to $500 upon conviction,
along with a suspension of up to 30 days for a first offence. As well, there
can be a 24 hour road side suspension of a license even before a conviction.
To learn more on drinking and driving under the
G2 license. Click here.
Passengers
Naomi may also be violating the rules on number
of passengers allowed while driving with a G2 license. During the day, the
number of passengers is limited to the number of working seatbelts. However, at
night the rules are more restrictive.
If Naomi has had her G2 license for less than
six months and is aged 19 and under, she cannot carry a passenger aged 19 and
under between midnight and 5 a.m.
After the first six months, G2 drivers aged 19 and under cannot carry more than
three passengers aged 19 and under between midnight and 5 a.m.
These restrictions do not apply to a G2 driver
aged 19 and under if the G2 driver is accompanied by a G class driver in the
front seat, or the passengers are immediate family members.
Since Naomi has violated the rules around
passenger numbers she will be subject to a suspension as outlined in the Novice Driver Escalating Sanction
Scheme. (see below)
How do you get convicted
for a G2-type offence?
G2-type offences are NOT criminal offences. They are “provincial offences”. If someone is caught committing a G2-type offence they can be charged. The charging process starts when a person (the defendant) is given a
certificate of offence (kind of like a ticket) by a provincial offences officer, which can include a police officer and a municipal offences officer. The details for these proceedings can be found in the Provincial
Offences Act. The authority for the application to
G2 offences is found in the regulation under the act, Proceedings
Commenced by a Certificate of Offence.
Where a provincial offences officer proceeds in this manner, he or
she must serve the certificate of offence on the defendant within 30 days of
the alleged offence. The officer must then file the certificate of offence in
the court office as soon as possible after service of the office notice or
summons. It is open to the defendant to plead in one of three ways: not guilty, guilty “with
representations”, or guilty. If they plead guilty then they would pay the set fine, which is sometimes written onto the ticket. If the person does nothing
within 15 days of service of the
offence notice, then they are deemed not to dispute the charge and a conviction
is registered.
The
Novice Driver Sanction Scheme
As outlined on the OntarioMinistry of Transportation website,
Effective August 1, 2010,
novice or hybrid drivers (drivers that hold a novice license and full license,
e.g., G) will be subject to Novice Driver Escalating Sanctions. These sanctions
will apply if, within a five year period, you:
- are
convicted of violating any of the graduated licensing conditions;
The Novice Driver
Escalating Sanctions are as follows:
- 30-day
licence suspension for the first occurrence;
- 90-day
licence suspension for the second occurrence; and
- Novice
licence cancellation for the third occurrence. Upon a third occurrence,
your novice driver’s licence will be cancelled and any time discount
earned, time credited or fees paid would be forfeited. You must re-apply
to the graduated licensing program by passing a vision and knowledge test
and paying all licensing fees. After you pass these tests, you will enter
Level One and get a Class G1 licence. You must serve all the Level One and
Level Two waiting periods and start as a new driver. You would need to
take a beginner driver education course to qualify for a time discount.
To read more on the G2
license restrictions, visit the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
If you are a youth in Ontario
Thanks to Inez Leutenegger, a PLE Team volunteer for writing this
scenario for this post. Inez is currently a paralegal student. Legal
information written by JFCY summer student Jeremy Ozier and JFCY volunteer Sarah
Mehta Alexander. Legal information was reviewed by JFCY.
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