Kwantlen student’s appeal supremely dismissed

It was a harsh math lesson this week for a Kwantlen student, whose bid to have his driving suspension reduced was denied by a B.C. Supreme Court.

Ali Maasoumian had his driver’s licence suspended for eight months by the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles after he accumulated 17 points by the end of 2008.

Prior to the start of that suspension, the superintendent noted that he had accumulated another eight points in a nine-week span and so extended the ban by six months.

Maasoumian requested a review of his second suspension because of the hardships not having a driver’s licence placed on him. These hardships include not being able to drive to North Vancouver where he takes care of his father’s property and increasing his commute to school from a 25-minute drive to an hour-and-a-half commute on public transit.

“I am satisfied that the hardship which is put forward is not a hardship that I should take into account,” wrote Justice Grant Burnyeat.

“Having a driver’s license and being able to operate a vehicle is not a right. Rather, it is a privilege.”