Kelowna Criminal Driving Lawyer

Everything begins with a close look at what happened to you and where you stand. The lawyers at Filkow Law trace how the Criminal Code, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, and the Insurance (Vehicle) Act intersect in your case, and they flag what may follow, from ICBC driver risk premiums to penalty points and longer-term effects on your licence.

The firm takes over contact with the Kelowna RCMP and the BC Prosecution Service on your behalf. It handles the filings and the early appearances at the Kelowna courthouse, so you are not left to navigate the process alone.

A driving prosecution is only as strong as the evidence behind it. The lawyers at the firm go through the police file in detail, looking for weaknesses in the Crown’s case and grounds to argue that certain evidence should not be admitted at all.

Some cases are best resolved through negotiation; others have to be fought at trial. Either way, the firm represents you fully, drawing on long experience with the interplay of provincial driving law, insurance rules, and the Criminal Code to pursue the best outcome available, above all keeping a criminal record and the loss of your licence off the table wherever possible.

This is a provincial charge under the Motor Vehicle Act rather than a criminal one, but it is heard in criminal court, and a finding of guilt attaches six points to your driving record alongside a fine, with a prohibition or jail available on the most serious facts. Injury or death to a vulnerable road user must be weighed against the driver at sentencing, and the criminal driving lawyers at Filkow Law build the defence around the gap between a lapse of attention and conduct that a reasonable driver would never have engaged in.

To convict under section 320.13 of the Criminal Code, the Crown must establish that the manner of driving created a danger to the public, judged against everything that was happening on the road at the time. The offence is hybrid, and the ceiling is 10 years, extending to 14 years for bodily harm and to life where a person dies.

No particular breath reading is required for a charge under section 320.14 of the Criminal Code, as any degree of impairment by alcohol, a drug, or the two in combination is enough, and a first conviction attracts a $1,000 fine at minimum along with a one-year prohibition. Cases built on what an officer says he saw and heard invite close review, and the firm looks at the reason for the stop, the demand that followed it, and whether you were given a proper opportunity to speak with counsel.

The two-hour window matters here, because the offence is committed if your blood alcohol concentration reached or exceeded 80 mg in 100 mL of blood at any point within two hours of being behind the wheel. Higher readings carry higher mandatory fines, $1,500 from 120 mg and $2,000 from 160 mg, and the firm approaches these files as technical ones, working through the breath testing procedure, the records for the instrument, and the legality of the demand.

Declining a lawful demand does not avoid the consequences of an impaired driving investigation, because section 320.15 of the Criminal Code creates a standalone offence with a $2,000 minimum fine, higher than the fine for impaired driving itself. A 90-day prohibition is generally issued at the roadside in addition, and counsel at the firm considers whether the officer made the demand lawfully and conveyed it clearly enough for a refusal to be established.

Stopping, identifying yourself, and helping anyone who needs it are legal obligations after a collision, and a failure to meet them can proceed as a ticket under section 68 of the Motor Vehicle Act or as a criminal charge under section 320.16 of the Criminal Code, where the maximum is 10 years and greater still if the driver knew of an injury or death. The criminal route requires proof that the driver knew a collision had occurred, and that element is often where the defence begins.

Section 320.17 of the Criminal Code is directed at drivers who do not pull over promptly once police begin a pursuit, and a conviction on indictment carries up to 10 years. Dangerous driving is commonly charged at the same time, and since a driver may simply not have realized he was being followed, the firm compares the officer’s account with the recordings, the notes, and the visibility conditions at the time.

Driving while prohibited is treated seriously in British Columbia, and the penalties reflect that. On a first conviction under s. 95, the court may impose a fine of between $500 and $2,000, a jail term of up to six months, or both, and a conviction also brings an automatic 12-month driving prohibition under s. 98. A second conviction carries a mandatory jail term of at least 14 days. Many drivers in Kelowna do not even realize they are prohibited, often because a notice from ICBC never reached them. A Kelowna criminal driving lawyer will look into how the prohibition came about and work to resolve the charge without jail and without a further lengthy ban.

Many suspensions build up quietly, through accumulated penalty points or higher-risk conduct such as using a handheld device, driving without due care, or excessive speeding. A criminal driving lawyer at the firm challenges the foundation of the suspension and puts your circumstances forward, arguing for the prohibition to be cancelled or shortened.

An officer can issue an IRP on a “Warn” or “Fail” reading from an approved screening device, or where a driver is said to have refused a breath demand. A “Fail” or a refusal brings a 90-day prohibition, even in cases where the device was not properly calibrated or a medical condition made it hard to give a proper sample. The firm scrutinizes the police evidence and presents your side, working to keep the prohibition from derailing your work and daily life.

A crash in the Okanagan can lead to a tangled dispute over fault and coverage. ICBC may claim you breached your insurance contract because of alcohol, a licensing problem, or something you are said to have misrepresented. The Kelowna criminal driving lawyers at Filkow Law defend against these allegations to protect your driving record and to keep you from being saddled with a large financial liability.