How long has it DUI conviction stay on your driving record? Well, there’s many aspects to this question and I need to break it down. So, let’s talk first of all the Ministry of Transportation because they keep an abstract of your driving record. So, the Ministry, if you get a DUI today impaired driving over 80, a refusal of a breath demand, and then if you’re convicted today, they will consider that for the next 10 years. In other words, if you’re convicted within the next 10 years of another, they’ll consider it to be a second, okay? After 10 years, it lapses from your record. I’m not saying they don’t keep a record of it, but they don’t consider the second, so it’s a 10-year limitation period. So that’s very important, especially for a person who has three DUI convictions because if the 10-year period can lapse, you want to avoid a lifetime suspension. That’s very important. Now, the second aspect is insurance. Now, I’m not an insurance expert by any means, but I’ve talked to insurance people over the years obviously from what I do when I need to converse with them as a DUI lawyer and I’m told that a DUI conviction will stay on your driving record with insurance companies for six years. In other words, your premiums are going to go through the roof if you can get insurance and you’ll certainly be paying facility rates I don’t want to get into I’ve seen people pay up to $10,000 a year for insurance and many not even get it through younger people. So that’s the second aspect. Now the third aspect is for court purposes on the government computer for criminal record. Well, that never goes away unless you get a record suspension. So, you can apply for a record suspension from, let me get this straight because they just changed the law a few years ago, five years after the end of your driving prohibition. So, if you plead guilty to an impaired driving and get a one year driving probation, you’re eligible to apply for record suspension which used to be called pardons where they changed the name five years after a prohibition.So how does a crown attorney, if you get another a second DUI, how does the crown attorney look at an old DUI conviction?
Well, in theory, it never goes away. So the crown, unless you the crown can do this the crown can say, “Look, he’s got a prior from 15 years ago, I’m going to rely on that conviction. I’m going to file a notice of application increased penalty.” And if you’re convicted, you’re facing an automatic thirty-day jail term or the crown has discretion to like sometimes if DUIs or say, well, anything over five years, they have discretion, but it depends on the county you’re in some counties might exercise discretion after 10 years and not consider your next DUI as a second, no jail. Others are mean spirited, but go back 20 years for God’s sake. So, it’s important to apply for a record suspension, pardon. which is now called a record suspension. It’s very important to do that. The problem with that though, is this is a tricky issue. If you get a second DUI and you’ve already had a record suspension, the Crown Attorney can actually apply to rescind your pardon or record suspension. They don’t necessarily do that but they can and they will do it and wreck case. So, there’s a bit of a primer on how long these they stay on your record. The bottom line is with the Minister of Transportation 10 years with the court forever unless you get a record suspension and the Crown can even rescind that on a second and with your insurance company six years.
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