[39] Bill 41 Royal Assent (PDF)
Bill 41 2008
An Act to amend the Highway Traffic Act in relation to the use of speed-limiting systems in commercial motor vehicles
Note: This Act amends the Highway Traffic Act. For the legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative History on www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. Part VI of the Highway Traffic Act is amended by adding the following section:
Speed-limiting systems
Required use by commercial motor vehicles
68.1 (1) No person shall drive, or permit the operation of, a commercial motor vehicle on a highway unless the vehicle is equipped with a speed-limiting system that is activated and functioning in accordance with the regulations.
Same
(2) Except as authorized by the regulations, no person shall,
(a) deactivate, or permit a person to deactivate, a commercial motor vehicle's speed-limiting system; or
(b) modify, or permit a person to modify, a commercial motor vehicle's speed-limiting system such that it ceases to function in accordance with the regulations.
Tampering device prohibited
(3) No person shall drive, or permit the operation of, a commercial motor vehicle on a highway if the vehicle is equipped with, has attached to it or carries,
(a) a prescribed device or prescribed equipment; or
(b) another device or equipment that is designed to disguise the fact that the vehicle is not equipped with a speed-limiting system that is activated and functioning in accordance with the regulations.
Verifying compliance
(4) A police officer or officer appointed for carrying out the provisions of this Act, in exercising his or her powers under section 82 or 216.1, may require that the driver or other person in charge of a commercial motor vehicle,
(a) provide the officer with access to the vehicle's computer system in order to retrieve and read any information relevant to the activation and functioning of the vehicle's speed-limiting system;
(b) surrender to the officer any device or equipment carried in the vehicle that operates as part of the vehicle's speed-limiting system; and
(c) surrender to the officer any records that the driver is required by the regulations to carry with him or her while driving the vehicle.
Same
(5) A driver or other person in charge of a commercial motor vehicle shall comply with any requirement made under subsection (4) by a police officer or officer appointed for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
Seizure of tampering device
(6) If a police officer or officer appointed for carrying out the provisions of this Act finds a device or equipment prohibited by subsection (3) in the course of any inspection of a commercial motor vehicle, he or she may detach, if necessary, and seize any such device or equipment.
Sale of tampering devices prohibited
(7) No person shall sell, offer or advertise for sale a device or equipment prohibited by subsection (3).
Offence
(8) Every person who contravenes or fails to comply with subsection (1), (2), (3), (5) or (7), or a regulation made under this section, is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not less than $250 and not more than $20,000.
Evidentiary presumption
(9) In any proceeding under this section and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that a commercial motor vehicle was driven on a highway at a speed equal to or greater than the speed prescribed for the purpose of this subsection is proof that the vehicle was not equipped with a speed-limiting system that was activated and functioning as required by subsection (1).
Forfeiture of tampering device
(10) Where a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (3), any device or equipment seized under subsection (6) by means of which the offence was committed is forfeited to the Crown.
Regulations
(11) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,
(a) defining "commercial motor vehicle" for the purposes of this section;
(b) prescribing standards for speed-limiting systems;
(c) governing the activation and functioning of speed-limiting systems, including prescribing and governing the speed at which speed-limiting systems must be set and prescribing different speed settings for different circumstances;
(d) prescribing devices and equipment for the purpose of clause (3) (a);
(e) governing methods to verify compliance with this section and the regulations, including prescribing devices and software to be used to retrieve and read information in computer systems;
(f) prescribing the speed for the purpose of subsection (9);
(g) requiring and governing the inspection and maintenance of speed-limiting systems;
(h) governing records to be kept and submitted in relation to the inspection, maintenance, activation and functioning of speed-limiting systems;
(i) governing records to be kept and carried by drivers in relation to the activation and functioning of speed-limiting systems;
(j) exempting any person or class of persons or any commercial motor vehicle or class of commercial motor vehicles from any requirement or provision of this section or of a regulation made under this section and prescribing conditions and circumstances for any such exemption.
Commencement
2. This Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
Short title
3. The short title of this Act is the Highway Traffic Amendment Act (Speed-limiting Systems), 2008.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This Explanatory Note was written as a reader's aid to Bill 41 and does not form part of the law. Bill 41 has been enacted as Chapter 8 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2008.
The Bill amends the Highway Traffic Act. It imposes a new requirement that commercial motor vehicles driven on a highway must have a speed-limiting system that is activated and functions in accordance with the regulations made under the Act. Tampering with a speed-limiting system is prohibited, as is the sale of tampering devices.