Traffic fines skyrocket

Author: Frank Matys

Date: Jan 06, 2010

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Frank Matys

OPP Const. Mark Maeers welcomes a recent hike to the fines associated with a range of traffic offenses, including red-light running and seatbelt infractions.

What might have felt like a pinch to the pocketbook before is likely to arrive like a punch to the gut for drivers who run afoul of the law in 2010.
Fines for a range of traffic infractions rose dramatically starting Jan. 1, with some penalties as much as quadrupling for major offenses.
Those responsible for enforcing Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act view the higher fines as one more measure to help reduce injury and death on the road.
“If that is necessary to get people doing what they should be doing, then so be it,” said OPP Const. Mark Maeers, a 23-year-veteran of the force.
Failing to pull to a stop when an emergency vehicle approaches with its lights activated now brings a $490 ticket, up from $110 previously.
“We have had officers killed, we have had firefighters killed,” said Maeers. “Is that (law) near and dear to my heart? Yes.”
The same $490 fine applies to drivers who ignore red lights while traveling through community safety zones, such as those established around schools.
“If you’re doing 15 over near a school, you deserve to get charged,” Maeers added. “There are children there.”
Running a red light will cost you $325, up from $110, while seatbelt violations jump from $110 to $240.
Ontario’s top cop – a vocal proponent of tougher laws and stepped up enforcement – applauds the stiffer penalties.
“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,” Commissioner Julian Fantino said.
Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop holds a dramatically different view of the higher fines, describing them as “nothing but a tax grab.
“There are a lot of good people who are in a position where the extra hundred dollars (determines) whether they can feed their family properly or pay a heating bill,” he said this week.
Area merchant Pam Funge agrees.
“It’s disgusting,” she said of the hikes. “They are just gouging us to death.”
The new seat-belt penalties seem particularly onerous, said Orillia teen Jake Thompson.
“I can definitely see how people would see that as a tax grab,” he added. “The government already showed they are concerned about safety with the (previous) fine.”
Neither will higher fines act as “much of a deterrent,” argues Dunlop.
“The average person might make a mistake and go too close to an ambulance,” he said. “We have penalized them enough. There are a lot of people that are not criminals. There are a lot of really good honest people that make a mistake.”
At the day’s end, “It comes out of the pocket of the taxpayer and into the pocket of some bureaucracy,” he added. “People are sick and tired of governments in their pocket all the time.”
Maeers noted that officers have the leeway to issue warnings for some offenses rather than ticket a driver.
“Police officers always use that discretion and judgment, but safety is the No. 1 goal,” he added.
Which is why drivers nabbed while speeding through a school zone are unlikely to leave with a simple warning.
“I can almost guarantee you that a charge is going to be laid,” Maeers added.
Increased enforcement has led to fewer deaths on Ontario’s roads in recent years, including a nearly 30 per cent drop in fatalities in 2008, the OPP has reported.
Maeers views the new fines as yet another tool in that effort.
“The rate of fatalities has reduced substantially, but it is not good enough,” he added.
In addition to increases for so-called set fines, the maximum penalty for failing to pull over for an emergency vehicle rises to $2,000 – quadruple what it previously was.
Ontario’s transportation ministry sets the fines.
– With files from Torstar