Case Summaries: Suspension of Driver's Licence
Common Issue: My driver's licence has been suspended by the Ministry of Transportation due to my seizure(s). How can I get my licence back?
Mr. H was a full-time firefighter and a paramedic graduate who had one seizure episode and no recurring seizures ever since. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Transportation (M.T.O.) took his professional driver's licence away, which is critical to his job activities. The M.T.O. gave him a G class licence for private driving but did not allow him to drive a fire truck or an ambulance. Despite that one seizure episode, he leads a very healthy and active lifestyle.
Mr. H suffers from continuous seizures and eventually lost his job as a dairy farmer. His relationship with his wife also declined and they have separated. Over the course of time he lost his driver's licence and he drove a number of times without it, which led him to owe $7,000 in fine. He has been unable to work without his licence and now owes $12,000 in arrears for child support.
Mr. A is a tractor trailer driver with a medical history which includes complex partial seizures in the right temporal lobe. He has been seizure-free for the past seven and a half years and is not currently taking any medication. His life depends heavily on driving tractor trailers as a career, but he recently lost his G licence which he needs in order to drive these vehicles due to his seizures.
Mr. A is a transport truck driver who lost his commercial G licence due to a recent seizure. He has not had a seizure for many years until the recent one. His neurologist put down "epilepsy" on a form after the seizure, but Mr. A claims that he was never formally diagnosed as epileptic. He currently has his G licence back but he needs his commercial driver's licence to work and sustain a living.
Ms. B has had nocturnal seizures for many years and had a surgery hoping to alter the pattern. It was not successful and she claims to sleep 15 to 18 hours a day. She had a car accident in which she passed out and the car went airborne. No deaths or major injuries occurred. She lost her licence and was charged with careless driving. She claims that just prior to this event her neurologist of many years reduced the dosage of her mediation and that may have led to the accident.
A man with a history of epilepsy controlled by medication has held a job as a travelling sales man for nearly 30 years. After experiencing dizziness and nausea, he was taken to the hospital and his licence was suspended later. He ended up exhausting his vacation time, was refused short-term disability benefits, and failed to find someone who could drive him to and from work. He does not qualify for Canada Pension Plan, Ontario Disability Support Program, or Unemployment Insurance.
Suspension of Driver's Licence
Section 230(1) of
Ontario Highway Traffic Act requires every legally qualified medical practitioner to report to the M.T.O. the name, address, and clinical condition of anyone with a medical condition that might, in the opinion of the medical practitioner, impair driving ability.
Physicians commonly refer to the Canadian Medical Association's "
Determining Medical Fitness to Drive: A Guide for Physicians" in order to determine which person with epilepsy is not fit to drive. For example, the guideline establishes that a person who experiences a seizure after the withdrawal or change of medication must be seizure-free for five years without any medication, or ten years seizure-free on medication.
Once a person has been notified of the suspension, he or she can request an Administrative Review with a representative of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles by calling the
Medical Review Section at the telephone number on the letter that he or she received. The person conducting the Administrative Review will simply report back to the M.T.O. the information that he or she has provided and the Medical Review Section will review his or her file and notify him or her in writing of the outcome.
A person can appeal the decision to continue the suspension of his or her driver's licence to the
Licence Appeal Tribunal (L.A.T.), which is an independent tribunal authorized under the Highway Traffic Act.
If a person believes that the decision of the L.A.T. was wrong or unfair, he or she can either contact
Ombudsman Ontario, which helps people resolve complaints against provincial government organizations, or may appeal to the Superior Court of Justice.
At any time, the person's doctor can submit new medical information to the M.T.O. for review. This does not necessarily mean that his or her licence will be re-instated but it will allow the M.T.O. to review the suspension again.
Contact Information
Ministry of Transportation
Corporate Correspondence Unit
3rd Floor, Ferguson Block
77 Wellesley Street West
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1Z8
General inquiries:
Ministry of Transportation Inquiry Centre
Telephone: 1-800-268-4686 or 416-235-4686 for the Greater Toronto Area
Driver and vehicle licensing:
Licensing Administration Office
Telephone: 1-800-387-3445 or 416-235-2999 for the Greater Toronto Area
Licence Appeal Tribunal
1 St. Clair Avenue West, 12th Floor
Toronto, ON M4V 1K6
Toll-Free: 1-800-255-2214
Telephone: (416) 314-4260
Fax: 416-314-4270 or 1-800-720-5292 (Toll-Free)
Ombudsman Ontario
125 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON M5S 2C7
Toll-Free: 1-800-263-1830
Telephone: 416-586-3300
Fax: 1-866-411-4211
E-Mail: info@ombudsman.on.ca
