HWY Traffic act fines to increase Jan 2010

[twinn]

Just saw this on city news website:

The New Year could be an expensive one for Ontario motorists: Highway fines are going up January 1.

The penalties for several offenses will double, leaping from $500 to $1000.

If you don’t stop at a red light or wear your seatbelt, or if someone in your car under the age of 16 isn’t strapped in, you could forfeit a grand.

Other crimes come with a fine that could reach $2000: careless driving and failure to remain at the scene of a collision.

That’s on top of existing penalties like license suspensions and possible jail time.

Fines are also going up for drivers who don’t stop for emergency vehicles. Motorists could forfeit up to $2,000, three demerit points and their license for two years if convicted.

That’s a huge leap from the current maximum penalty of just $500.

For subsequent offences within five years, the maximum rises to a $4,000 fine, three demerit points, a two-year driver's licence suspension and a six-month prison sentence - up from the current maximum penalty of a $500 fine.

With files from The Canadian Press.

Its all for your public saftey. LOL

[thumpit]

"Its all for your public saftey."

Ya? Well you can't get blood out of a stone.
And we already pay doubled up insurance rate clauses for those who don't carry insurance.
This is nothing more than a cash grab. And if their intent really was safety, then they would make a drivers licence a LOT ****ing harder to acquire. This is a perceived band-aid for a much larger problem. And this way they can get the bucks. I think they should legalize a personal justice system for someone who almost creams me going through a red light. If people knew they could get an ***-kicking, they might straighten up a bit and take what they do behind the wheel a bit more seriously.

[twinn]

I know its not for public saftet, since have edited to make it clear.

Its a cash grab, this is a 100% increase in set fines.

For those who might know, who or what agency is in charge of setting these fines? Just curious.

[FiReSTaRT]

Look at it on a positive note.. People will be more likely to take their tickets to court thus increasing our chances of successful 11b stays

[thumpit]

Sorry, actually I knew the context u said it was total sarcasm. Everybody would know, and if any didn't then they would only be trolling..

[tat2]

Another positive note, you get your day in court before you pay.

[Rob MacLennan]

Inflation has continued for years, but the fines were static. Depending upon when the initial fines were set an increase of 100% might even be reasonable.

Yeah, I expect to take a few hits for saying that.

[82Seca750]

people are just gonna love the traffic cops now eh?

those fines are freakin mortgage payments

I feel for the teenager with a part-time job putting himself through school getting swiddled 2 grand for a no belt brainfart.....especially when the copper giving him the ticket wasn't wearing his

lovely thinking.....who's gonna just "man-up" and pay when it's that kinda coin?

[82Seca750]

Inflation has continued for years, but the fines were static. Depending upon when the initial fines were set an increase of 100% might even be reasonable.

Yeah, I expect to take a few hits for saying that.

yeah I'll crawl up your crack on that

I got a $56 seat belt zing when I was 19.....so 23 years ago

I was making about $5/hour as a part time schelp at Pizza the Hut in the Kitchen.....so the fine was a 10 hour pole up the rump loss....easily two shifts work

what's the current hourly pay at the hut for the kitchen crew?.....10 bucks and hour?

so.....2 grand = 200 hours.....which is 40 part time shifts...likely 2 months of income gone

it's criminal.....and it will bury a student in the same state I was 23 years ago

it's nowhere near inflation

[roadtoruin]

Geeze what next - fining someone ten thousand dollars for jumping a green light and then suspending their car and license on the spot?

nah that would never happen...

[turbodish]

yeah I'll crawl up your crack on that

I got a $56 seat belt zing when I was 19.....so 23 years ago

I was making about $5/hour as a part time schelp at Pizza the Hut in the Kitchen.....so the fine was a 10 hour pole up the rump loss....easily two shifts work

what's the current hourly pay at the hut for the kitchen crew?.....10 bucks and hour?

so.....2 grand = 200 hours.....which is 40 part time shifts...likely 2 months of income gone

it's criminal.....and it will bury a student in the same state I was 23 years ago

it's nowhere near inflation

First, the number you want for seatbelts is $1,000, not the $2,000 you quoted, and that $1,000 is the MAXIMUM possible fine for no seatbelt. That compares to the current $500 maximum for no seatbelt.

Second, the actual fine that most people will end up paying for no seat belt with the new increases is the new minimum fine of $200.

Your $56 seatbelt fine was 23 years ago, but given inflation that amounts to about $100 in today's dollars.

So the government's new fines for seatbelts at least will have doubled the inflation rate, but so what?

This is a voluntary tax that is easily avoided. Fines should serve as a real deterrent, and not as a low cost pay for play fee.

[zeekat]

And they didn't raise the minimum and maximum penalties on 'street-racing/stunting' or whatever the **** it is .... I'm so shocked and disappointed ... I mean you can never have enough 'for public safety'.

... and don't forget the victim's surcharge which also increases as well ... that $500 to $2000 fine increase is actually an increase from $610 to $2,500 once you add in the surcharge.

Guess we should be thankful HST won't be applicable on the fines ...

[mat2312]

More cash grab



At least people will be more likely to fight their tickets. $1000 is ridiculous for a seatbelt ticket.

[Metastable]

A$ $OMEONE ELSE PUT IT.... $AFETY!!!! yup.

I kinda wish everyone could just say F-it and stop driving until the province decided they'd be losing too much money and reverted laws/penalties to the way they were 20 years ago.... plus not allowing insurance companies to have access to our records.

Yes I understand this is impossible.

[froghammer]

Inflation has continued for years, but the fines were static. Depending upon when the initial fines were set an increase of 100% might even be reasonable.

Yeah, I expect to take a few hits for saying that.

Well, here's one hit. Fines are not a commodity. They're not lumber or bread and subject to inflation. They're a payment for your sin so any number that is set it pretty much arbitrary.

[froghammer]

Actually, I'll revise that a little bit. Whatever portion of the fine that goes to actually processing it would inflate. But everything else on top of that is arbitrary. It's set according to how severe your sin is perceived to be according to the social climate at the time.

[82Seca750]

First, the number you want for seatbelts is $1,000, not the $2,000 you quoted, and that $1,000 is the MAXIMUM possible fine for no seatbelt. That compares to the current $500 maximum for no seatbelt.

Second, the actual fine that most people will end up paying for no seat belt with the new increases is the new minimum fine of $200.

Your $56 seatbelt fine was 23 years ago, but given inflation that amounts to about $100 in today's dollars.

So the government's new fines for seatbelts at least will have doubled the inflation rate, but so what?

This is a voluntary tax that is easily avoided. Fines should serve as a real deterrent, and not as a low cost pay for play fee.

well no surprise that you applaud the changes.....shocker

I'm guessing you're a security-guard (aka wanna-be-cop in the waiting) because I don't think I've ever seen someone cheerlead all these HTA changes like you do......and I don't think most real cops wanna write tickets against people that are growing to the size of mortgage payments from what used to be a week's worth of groceries

either that...or you're a flag waving Ontario Liberal Party quack who seems to think that everyone's got thousands of dollars to throw down the drain over the fact that you can't manage your income and have a serious spending problem

yeah...fines are supposed to be a deterrent.....but these raised fines are a crushing blow....and that's not what the system is designed to do

[zeekat]

At least people will be more likely to fight their tickets. $1000 is ridiculous for a seatbelt ticket.

Folks, this is another job creation program. Just like the HST will create lots of jobs so will this. Pointts and the like will have to hire, more JPs (does Fantino have any more sons?) to handle the backlog ... maybe even have to build new traffic courts. We should applaud McGuinty for all this brilliant thinking without raising 'taxes' on getting Ontario's economy out of the sh*****r.

[dankyyz]

Sorry, actually I knew the context u said it was total sarcasm. Everybody would know, and if any didn't then they would only be trolling..

Or not agree with you. Which, in my experience, is one in the same with the HTA coffee clatch.

That is the problem with all the HTA threads. You all "know" too much, and any opposition to your "omniscience" is considered "uninformed trolling".

One thing that these kinds of fines will do is get bad drivers off the road as they will not be able to afford it. Insurance companies are doing the same thing. I have no problem with this. No tickey, no laundry.

It will work. Everyone works too hard to squander their money on stupid, senseless mistakes.

All that aside, i'm warming to the idea that the Judge Dredd laws, which convict before proper representation and court day, are a step over the line.

Fact is, that part of the reason the current system is flawed is that it is under funded, and over taxed.

Something has to change, and people are not becoming better drivers anytime soon.

[FiReSTaRT]

All that aside, i'm warming to the idea that the Judge Dredd laws, which convict before proper representation and court day, are a step over the line.
Fact is, that part of the reason the current system is flawed is that it is under funded, and over taxed.
Something has to change, and people are not becoming better drivers anytime soon.

That's because the current laws, traffic planning and enforcement practices don't work. Well, the HTA, the way it was written before Bill 203 mostly would have worked if everything got equally enforced. Unfortunately, people in general can roll through stops, neglect to signal, operate unsafe vehicles and obstruct traffic with impunity, as long as they don't speed. 90% of HTA enforcement are speed traps, with the inclusion of value-added tickets is something obvious about the vehicle and/or documents hits the constable over the head. That's why your worst offenders will say something along the lines of "I'm a safe driver - I don't speed." Worse penalties across the board won't fix that.