in Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, Southgate, West Grey
May 03, 2021
The Ontario government is taking action to protect road users against unsafe and aggressive driving with the introduction of the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act, 2021, also known as the MOMS Act. The proposed legislation will introduce new measures to combat high-risk driving and improve road safety, including longer driver’s licence suspensions and longer vehicle impoundment periods for drivers who engage in stunt driving, street racing and aggressive driving.
Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation, introduced the MOMS Act in the legislature last week.
“I’m very happy to see this legislation come forward. Unfortunately, locally we have experienced stunt driving on our highways. Hopefully, if this legislation passes, implementing more severe consequences for this behaviour will act as a deterrent,” said Grey-Bruce-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker. “I want to thank the members of the Bruce Peninsula Safe Communities organization and of course, our local OPP, MTO staff, and municipal Councils for all their hard work to bring attention to the serious stunt driving problem we have been seeing in our area.”
If passed by the legislature, the MOMS Act would also introduce measures to protect vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and highway workers, improve truck safety and strengthen the province’s oversight of the towing sector by creating the Towing and Storage Safety and Enforcement Act, 2021. This Act would require tow operators, tow truck drivers and vehicle storage operators to be certified and set new standards for customer protection and roadside behaviours, including penalties for non-compliance.
“Both as Minister of Transportation and a parent to driving-aged teens, I am extremely concerned by the rising numbers of young drivers in Ontario caught stunt driving, street racing and driving aggressively,” said Minister Mulroney. “By increasing driver’s licence suspensions and vehicle impoundment periods, the MOMS Act sends a clear message to drivers – driving is a privilege and those who threaten the safety of others have no place on our roads.”
“The MOMS Act targets the worst actors on our roads by creating escalating suspensions for repeat offenders and setting a lower speed threshold for stunt driving charges on municipal roads,” said Kinga Surma, Associate Minister of Transportation. “With this Act, we are taking concrete action to protect people and families on our roads.”
The number of driver’s licence suspensions issued at roadside for street racing/stunt driving increased by 130% between 2013 and 2019.
Roadside driver’s licence suspensions for street racing/stunt driving increased an additional 52% between March and August, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. Nearly 5% of drivers suspended during this period had one or more previous suspensions in the previous five years.
Young drivers aged 16-25 represented only 19% of drivers involved in collisions between March and June 2020 but 42% of drivers involved in collisions with a police-recorded speed of 50 kilometres per hour (km/h) or more above the posted limit.
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