In April of 2014 Michael Shmyr was convicted in Whatcom County Court in the State of Washington of the offence of driving under the influence of alcohol. Mr. Shmyr is a resident of British Columbia and holds a B.C. driver's licence. The State of Washington Department of Licensing subsequently sent a Mandatory Violation Notice to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia’s (ICBC) Driver Testing and Vehicle Information Department notifying ICBC of the citation and conviction.
ICBC noted the violation and conviction on Mr. Shmyr’s BC driving record. Mr. Shmyr next received a Notice of Intent to Prohibit him from driving for twelve months under s. 93(1)(a)(ii) of the Act from the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles.
Mr. Shmyr's counsel argued the imposition of a 12 month suspension on top of the sentence issued to Mr. Shmyr by the Whatcom County Court was excessive and, in essence, would result in punishing him twice for the same offence and, hence, the punishment could not be said to be in the public interest as it would result in the imposition of a total sentence that would be in excess of what he would have received had he committed the offence in British Columbia.
Counsel also noted that Mr. Shmyr required his licence to drive for work and a further suspension would impose excessive hardship on him.
Mr. Shmyr was not successful in having the Superintendent's prohibition set aside.
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