More random road side taxation coming our way! Increases in many fines..some doubled..some quadrupled. Never mind the fact that Ontario has among the safest roads in North America. I guess the traffic Nazis need money to keep their airplanes flying....
WINDSOR, Ont. — Ontario will ring in the new year with hefty new punishments for several traffic infractions, including a $2,000 ticket the first time you follow a fire truck too closely and a possible prison sentence the second time.
Drivers caught violating a range of traffic laws will soon face licence suspensions, demerit points and fines that are double — and even quadruple — what they are now.
Windsor police Sgt. Steve Bodri said he hopes the province's new measures for bad drivers have an effect, because little else has.
"In the new year, we're going to start some campaigns to target aggressive driving," he said. "If it requires writing more tickets, then we will."
"People aren't getting the message with respect to how they drive. They seem to forget that driving is a privilege. If they're going to drive recklessly and carelessly, we need to curb it somehow."
The new penalties take effect Friday, Jan. 1. One of the steepest changes will be for drivers who don't pull over to stop for emergency vehicles or those who follow fire vehicles too closely.
The maximum fine for a first offence is currently $500. It will soon be $2,000, along with three demerit points and a possible two-year licence suspension.
Subsequent offences within five years, currently $500 as well, also will increase. The maximum fine will jump to $4,000, three demerit points, a two-year driver's licence suspension and a possible six-month prison sentence.
The fine for failing to stop at a red light will jump from a $500 maximum to $1,000. Failure to wear a seatbelt and failure to ensure passengers under 16 are properly secured will also increase from $500 to a $1,000 maximum.
The maximum fine for careless driving and failure to remain at the scene of a collision will increase from $1,000 to $2,000. Other penalties for these offences will remain, including a two-year licence suspension and six-month jail term.
"Higher fines for convictions will be another effective tool to help make Ontario roads safer, especially if it gets the attention of irresponsible and reckless drivers," Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino said in a news release.
A Windsor-area owner of Pointts, one of the biggest traffic ticket paralegal services in Ontario, said these "tremendous" increases go too far.
"It would definitely be a hardship on people to pay these increased fines," said Walter Phillips, who was an OPP officer for 30 years. "Some of the fines are too high. I hope I'll never be in that situation to pay these very high fines. Ontario has got the toughest laws in North America, tougher than the U.S., tougher than Mexico."
He said the maximum $4,000 fine and jail time on a second offence for following emergency vehicles too closely or failing to pull over them is particularly punitive.
"That seems rather large," said Phillips. "It's a little much. Certainly jail time is, that's out of the question."
