After a fender-bender earlier than Christmas, 85-year-old Ossie Gildart was advised he’d need to take a driver’s check. However a shock was ready for him when he walked into Service New Brunswick in Bathurst.
“He mentioned, ‘Mr. Gildart, I am sorry you possibly can’t take the check, your licence has been suspended.'”
Gildart was advised his licence was suspended till he pays $4,661.91 due to an uninsured accident — an accident that occurred in Toronto in 1960.
“I simply could not imagine it. I could not bear in mind having an accident that I wasn’t insured with,” he mentioned.
Ontario’s Motor Car Accident Claims Fund permits folks to reclaim damages from an accident with an uninsured driver. However Gildart would not recall moving into an accident throughout his time in Toronto, not to mention one the place he was uninsured.
Whereas dwelling in Ontario, Gildart labored as a service technician so was required to have insurance coverage and to resume his driver’s licence yearly. When he left Ontario in 1971 to maneuver dwelling to New Brunswick, he obtained his Class 1 licence, driving vans for CN Rail.
Ossie Gildart not too long ago found that he owes greater than $4,600 for a declare from an accident that occurred two provinces away and 65 years in the past.
And within the all of the years he is renewed his licence, in Ontario and New Brunswick, this previous accident by no means appeared as a problem.
A spokesperson for New Brunswick’s Division of Public Security advised CBC Information that Service New Brunswick performs a Canada-wide scan for licence suspensions in different jurisdictions.
“Nonetheless, if our investigation proves the rationale for suspension is a court-ordered [judgment] greater than 10 years previous, we’ve no obligation to a different province to droop or accumulate the excellent quantity,” Geoffery Downey mentioned in an electronic mail.
Gildart’s licence has now been reinstated and his driver’s check rebooked however he is nonetheless left with the hefty invoice from the Ontario Ministry of Transport, though he is being allowed to pay it again month-to-month.
“200 {dollars} a month is an enormous slap within the face,” he mentioned.
“I will need to do with out one thing to get that.”
The Ontario Ministry of Public Enterprise and Service Supply mentioned there are alternatives for many who are going through claims by means of this system.
“If a person is sued and disagrees, they might defend the motion that has been commenced towards them,” spokesperson Jeffery Stinson mentioned in an electronic mail.
“If a judgment has been issued, they might search authorized recommendation to maneuver to have the judgment put aside.”
Gildart’s household remains to be deciding on subsequent steps, which can embrace hiring a lawyer to assist them battle the cost.
“I used to be by no means notified by anyone, for something. I used to be by no means suspended. I by no means had an issue,” he mentioned.
“I simply cannot imagine they’d do that to a senior that is 86 years previous subsequent week.”
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