TORONTO, Ont. — Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) president David Bradley wants to see tougher penalties for drivers who speed or drive aggressively.

The fleet group made the announcement in the wake of a long-weekend OPP blitz that nabbed more than 600 speeders. Bradley went as far as to call on other road user groups, such as the Canadian Automobile Association, to join him in asking the Ontario government bring in new legislation to fix the problem.

“The results from this weekend’s blitz by police to catch speeders and aggressive drivers clearly shows that many drivers just aren’t getting the message. The only answer is tougher enforcement”, Bradley says. “It’s time for the government to take a look at increasing fines and demerit points for speeding.”

Of particular concern for the OTA is the fact the worst speeders do not often pay the full price for breaking the law. Under current Ontario law, demerit points are only awarded for speed violations of greater than 15 km-h. As a result, the practice has arisen where drivers caught at 25, 35 or 40 km-h over the limit try to get the police to knock the ticket down to below 15 km-h, and often succeed.

“If all speeding violations were pointed then the excessive speeders might slow down,” says Bradley. “If we are really interested in safety and saving the lives of Ontario motorists, it’s time for us to get serious about reducing the speeds of all vehicles.”

He adds that truckers, for the most part are not prevalent speeders and he credits good trucking companies that have taken concrete steps, such as installing speed governors on their fleets for this fact.