by Dr. Radut

Q&A - Question of Two Driver's Licences

Published by Anonymous (not verified) -

Q&A ImageI got a ticket for speeding on my Alberta license in Vancouver. I disputed that ticket and my court date is this week. Since then, I have gotten a BC license and no longer hold an Alberta license. I was wondering, since I no longer hold that license, how does this ticket affect me?

Will it appear on my driving record?

Will the demerits show up on my BC license as well?

Will it only be an issue if I decide to get an Alberta license again at some point?

Published by DriveSmartBC - 2015/11/17 - 20:25 | Permalink

According to ICBC:

Each province within Canada has their own separate licensing system. The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia is legislated to maintain a five year driving record under section 116 of the British Columbia Motor Vehicle Act.

If the driver has a BC driver’s licence, this violation would be added to his BC record if he is unsuccessful in court.

All violations issued under the Motor Vehicle act and the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations will show up on a driver abstract for a period of 5 years. Neither ICBC nor the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles has the authority to remove these violations from your driving record before the 5 year time period has lapsed.

If he has a BC class 5 licence, and it is just this one ticket on his driving record, there are likely no further consequences as an experienced driver.

If he has a BC class 5 licence, and it is just this one ticket on his driving record, there are likely no further consequences as an experienced driver.

I'm wondering if the young driver being referred to actually has a full Class 5 license, or came to BC with one.  I think that generally speaking, BC would switch for an equivalent license with other provinces using a GLP system, so a person from Ontario with a class of G license would be able to switch for some category of Class 7 here.

Otherwise, as you say, he should be fine if they've issued a valid Class 5 here, in exchange for his Alberta license.

Published by my5cents - 2015/11/28 - 09:36 | Permalink

The poster questioned :

 â€śâ€¦.how does this ticket affect me ? Will it appear on my driving record: Will the demerits show up on my BC license as well ? Will it only be an issue if I decide to get an Alberta license again ? “

You answered :

“If the driver has a BC driver’s license, this violation would be added to his BC record if he is unsuccessful in court.”

Sorry, wrong. If a person is deemed guilty of a Motor Vehicle Act infraction for an offense committed in BC, a record of that infraction will form part of that driver’s record in BC, no matter if he/she has a BC DL or not.

If a person does not have a BC license they are assigned a “nil BC driver’s license number”. Basically an account in BC to capture the offense. It’s the same way an unlicensed driver in BC, who is caught driving, and perhaps other infractions is tracked.

So, for example, a person is a visitor in BC from AB and gets a ticket here in BC. Two years later they move to BC and turn over their AB DL and obtain a BC license. For starters, their BC driver’s license number will be that account number they were assigned from the ticket two years previous, and that ticket will show on their (what they thought) new BC DL.

A couple I know moved from AB to BC recently and both went in and obtained a BC DL.  The asked me why their respective DL numbers we so far apart when they went in the same day to get their licenses.  I asked of them, "did either of you ever get a ticket in BC ?", the husband had received a ticket many years before, he was the one with the lower number, because he had had a BC "DL number" since then.  It was a "nil DL" until he moved here, then converted to an active DL number.

Oh, and one's infraction are kept for many many years more than 5 years.  It's just the police interface with the ICBC DL database that only provides the last 5 years.

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