Although the BC Government has claimed from the start that the Ignition Interlock Program (IIP) and the Responsible Driver Program (RDP) are mandatory for everyone who gets a 90-day IRP, the Motor Vehicle Act merely compels the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles to review the driving record to determine if either or both of these programs are necessary or appropriate under the circumstances. When we questioned the position of the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles and then applied for court orders to compel a review of our client’s diving records, the OSMV backed down.
In each case so far they have lifted the IIP and in all but one they have lifted the RDP. In the one where they upheld the RDP requirement, our client had already paid for the course (we’ll have more to say on that another day.) The important thing to know is that the OSMV has now reversed their position. Just as the former Superintendent of Motor Vehicles shuffled off to a new job, the Government has now started to reverse course. But so far this is only happening for the people who begin a court action.
These two so-called remedial programs, the Interlock and RDP, are a mess. We understand that the Government, in the face of mounting criticism, is now in a state of disarray with competing factions taking sides while others work on their resumes and others simply wait for it all to hit the fan.
We assumed that they understood what was coming their way. They are the most devoted readers of our blog. We had some indication that they were training adjudicators to deal with the flood of people wishing to have their case reviewed. From what we can glean, it appears that the OSMV was completely unprepared to deal with over 30,000 people who deserve to have their case reviewed to see if the interlock and RDP should be required.
The BC provincial election is weeks away. The Interlock and RDP are now a mess of staggering proportion. The architect of the scheme has moved on. The BC Liberals, i.e. the Government, wants nothing more than to bury the story until after the election because they still think that they have a chance to win.
We warned them. Do they have adjudicators ready to review over 30,000 files to make a determination if the IIP and RDP are appropriate? Should the people who paid the money for these programs be refunded their fees if it was not appropriate in their case? What about the money? And what about the fact that these programs destroyed lives of people with perfect driving records?
Anyway, we’re now filing petitions to get this on for our clients. The test cases we filed have all been resolved with the lifting of the IIP. So we’re now on to filing petitions for each of our clients.