Ontario drivers now face stricter speeding and stunt driving penalties
If you're caught, you can now lose your licence at the roadside for 30 days
If driving fast is your style, be prepared for harsher penalties if you’re caught in Ontario. As of Sunday, September 12, 2021, if you’re stopped for a stunt driving offence, your driver’s licence will now be suspended roadside for 30 days, up from the previous seven days.
The licence suspension also applies to street racing. The province considers that to be two or more motor vehicles driving in a way that indicates the drivers are competing; if you’re chasing another vehicle; or if you’re changing lanes repeatedly at a high rate of speed and weaving through traffic. Again, that’s the stuff that can get people killed.
The new, longer suspension is part of the MOMS Act, for Moving Ontarians More Safely Act. It’s a wide net meant to improve protection for cyclists and road workers, improve commercial truck safety, and provide more oversight on the towing industry.
It’s being rolled out in stages and it started on July 1, 2021, when the level for stunt driving on an 80-km/h road dropped from driving 50 km/h over, down to 40 km/h over.
Other changes include a 14-day roadside vehicle impoundment for stunt driving, up from seven days; and longer licence suspensions if you’re convicted of stunt driving, especially on repeat offences. New safety measures will include photographing drivers who pass streetcars when their doors are open; requirement for a police report when drivers open their doors and hit cyclists; and new classification standards for e-bikes.