{"id":4477,"date":"2014-03-17T21:27:40","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T04:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=4477"},"modified":"2014-03-17T21:27:40","modified_gmt":"2014-03-18T04:27:40","slug":"ontario-proposes-three-demerit-point-penalty-for-distracted-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/03\/17\/ontario-proposes-three-demerit-point-penalty-for-distracted-drivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario proposes three demerit point penalty for distracted drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Superior_Court_of_Justice.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4480\" alt=\"Superior_Court_of_Justice\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Superior_Court_of_Justice.jpg\" width=\"192\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wikipedia photo<\/p>\n<p>TORONTO\u2014Ontario proposed a potentially costly hike in penalties for distracted drivers Monday by imposing three demerit points in addition to a maximum fine of up to $1,000 as part of wide-ranging road safety legislation.<\/p>\n<p>Drivers who receive demerit points after being convicted of using their cellphones behind the wheel could face higher insurance premiums.<\/p>\n<p>Just last month, Chief Justice Annemarie Bonkalo of the Ontario Court of Justice signed an order increasing the set fine for distracted driving to $225 from $125 starting March 18.<\/p>\n<p>Under the judge&#8217;s order, drivers would face a fine of $280, including surcharges, starting Tuesday, but the new legislation allows judges to impose a fine of $1,000.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation also mandates intensive alcohol education, treatment and monitoring programs for motorists convicted of repeated drinking and driving offences, said Transportation Minister Glen Murray.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This legislation would keep people who use our roads safer\u2014drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike,&#8221; said Murray.<\/p>\n<p>The new bill will also increase fines for motorists who open their car door and hit a bicyclist, would allow bicycle lanes to go in the opposite direction to traffic on one-way streets and let cyclists use paved shoulders of divided highways.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The legislation would require motorists to keep a distance of at least one metre between their vehicles and cyclists when passing,&#8221; Murray said to applause in the legislature.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation would also require drivers to yield the whole roadway to pedestrians at school crossings and pedestrian crossovers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Pedestrians still represent about one in six of all motor vehicle-related fatalities in Ontario, and 41 per cent of these occurred at intersections,&#8221; said Murray.<\/p>\n<p>The government consulted police, the Canadian Automobile Association and a host of others before drafting the new legislation, and adopted the components of several private member&#8217;s bills on safe driving measures, added Murray.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is an all-party bill and I hope it will quickly gain the confidence of this house,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wikipedia photo TORONTO\u2014Ontario proposed a potentially costly hike in penalties for distracted drivers Monday by imposing three demerit points in &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":4480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1112,1138],"class_list":["post-4477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","tag-ontario","tag-road-safety-legislation","mauthors-keith-leslie","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}