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When you aren’t focused on the road things can happen fast. Too often we hear of pedestrians being struck by a car, the fortunate ones being able to walk away. Most of these incidents have one thing in common, distracted driving. The government is listening and has taken serious necessary action.

What is Distracted Driving? Using your phone to talk, text, check maps and depending on the circumstances, can also include eating, grooming or even drinking beverages.

Effective January 1, 2019, distracted driving charges are changing. The new penalties are as follows:

Drivers with A to G licenses

First Conviction	Second Conviction	Third Conviction
-A fine of up to $1,000 -Three demerit points -A three-day day driver’s licence suspension	-A fine of up to $2,000 -Six demerit points -A seven-day driver’s licence suspension	-A fine of up to $3,000 -Six demerit points -A 30-day driver’s licence suspension

Drivers with G1, G2, M1 or M2 licenses

First Conviction	Second Conviction	Third Conviction
-A fine of up to $1,000 -A 30-day licence suspension	-A fine of up to $2,000 -A 90-day licence suspension	-A fine of up to $3,000 -Cancellation of your licence and removal from the Graduated Licensing System (GLS)

 Along with these increased penalties, one of the biggest financial costs could be your insurance rates.

Insurance companies are now beginning to treat distracted driving just as they would impaired driving, careless driving and racing.

This means that a first offence could lead to your insurance being non-renewed, forcing you into a high risk market, with significantly higher insurance costs. In addition, you could be subjected to a 50% surcharge on top of these higher base rates.

This ticket impacts your record for three years, so the costs for this infraction could end up costing you thousands of dollars over that time.

For more information on these changes, please give us a call or visit: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/safety/distracted-driving-faq.shtml

December 21, 2018 10:30 am Leave a Comment