After a fender-bender earlier than Christmas, 85-year-old Ossie Gildart was informed he’d should take a driver’s check. However a shock was ready for him when he walked into Service New Brunswick in Bathurst.
“He said, ‘Mr. Gildart, I’m sorry you can’t take the test, your licence has been suspended.’”
Gildart was informed his licence was suspended till he pays $4,661.91 due to an uninsured accident — an accident that occurred in Toronto in 1960.
“I just couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t remember having an accident that I wasn’t insured with,” he stated.
Ontario’s Motor Automobile Accident Claims Fund permits folks to reclaim damages from an accident with an uninsured driver. However Gildart doesn’t recall entering 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 house to New Brunswick, he acquired his Class 1 licence, driving vehicles for CN Rail.
WATCH | A $4,600 invoice for a 65-year-old accident has this senior looking for solutions:
N.B. senior faces declare for a decades-old accident he doesn’t keep in mind
Ossie Gildart lately 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’s renewed his licence, in Ontario and New Brunswick, this previous accident by no means appeared as a difficulty.
Gildart’s licence has now been reinstated and his driver’s check rebooked however he’s nonetheless left with the hefty invoice from the Ontario Ministry of Transport, though he’s being allowed to pay it again month-to-month.
“Two hundred dollars a month is a big slap in the face,” he stated.
“I’ll have to do without something to get that.”
Gildart and his household are nonetheless deciding on subsequent steps, which can embrace hiring a lawyer to assist them battle the cost. (Silas Brown/CBC Information)
The Ontario Ministry of Public Enterprise and Service Supply stated there are alternatives for many who are dealing with claims by means of this system.
“If a judgment has been issued, they may seek legal advice to move to have the judgment set aside.”
Gildart’s household continues to be deciding on subsequent steps, which can embrace hiring a lawyer to assist them battle the cost.
“I was never notified by anybody, for anything. I was never suspended. I never had a problem,” he stated.
“I just can’t believe they’d do this to a senior that’s 86 years old next week.”
