MTO enforcement officers to add radar to their arsenals

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TORONTO, Ont. — The Ontario Ministry of Transportation is equipping its vehicles with radar, to help officers better enforce the province’s speed limiter legislation, Trucknews.com has learned.

Officers will also be able to enforce moving violations committed by commercial vehicle operators, once the radar systems have been installed and officers are trained on its use.

Ontario and Quebec require nearly all heavy trucks operating in the provinces to have a functioning speed limiter that limits the vehicle’s speed to 105 km/h. Until now, the MTO has had to connect an electronic reader to the engine’s ECU to determine whether or not the speed limiter was activated.

However, once MTO cars are equipped with radar, they’ll be able to clock commercial vehicles and fine any driver travelling over 115 km/h for violating the province’s speed limiter law.

“MTO is considering utilizing radar units to assist officers in the enforcement of Sec. 68.1 of the Highway Traffic Act, which requires many commercial vehicles to have a functioning speed limiting system,” MTO spokesman Ajay Woozageer confirmed to Trucknews.com today. “Subsection 9 of that section provides an evidentiary presumption provision that deems a vehicle travelling at a speed greater than 115 km/h to not have a functioning system. The units would be used to provide evidence for officers to use this deeming provision.”

Equipping MTO enforcement officers with radar will also allow them to better enforce moving violations, Woozageer confirmed.

“Ministry of Transportation officers are appointed as officers for carrying out the provisions of the Highway Traffic Act,” Woozageer said. “Despite having the authority to do so, Ministry officers did not enforce many sections of the Act pertaining to ‘rules of the road.’ Officers will receive training on these rules of the road sections in the future and will start enforcing these driving rules in the future.”

Woozageer said MTO enforcement officers will continue to focus their attention on commercial vehicle operators only.

“We will continue to rely on our police partners to enforce the provisions of the Highway Traffic Act on passenger vehicles,” he said.

The Ministry hasn’t yet determined when radar will be added to enforcement officers’ arsenals, but officers will receive training on the systems in the new year.

“It is anticipated training for MTO officers will begin early in 2014,” said Woozageer. “Once officers receive the training, they will commence enforcement.”

Asked of there’ll be a grace period for unsuspecting truckers, Woozageer said not likely.

“This does not involve any new legislation; drivers of all motor vehicles are expected to comply with the laws pertaining to operating that vehicle safely on Ontario highways,” he said. “Officers observing a violation will take appropriate action which may include inspecting the vehicle and laying a charge.”

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  • Change the stupid law then from 105 to 115 then. Vote these dam liberals out of power in ont. If speed limiters are about safety , then why aren’t cars. How many ppl have been charged with 50 over since that law came into affect. How many cars get ticketed for 15 over? None… but ruin a truckers abstract , career. This province is a Joke!!

    • So I just got nailed from MTO doing 100km in a 80 and got a speeding ticket from MTO can they do that. it was a young kid that stop me
      He climbed up and asked for my papers and said I pulled you over for doing 100 in an 80 then he left and cam back with a ticket for speeding
      I thought if you go over the 115 they can get you but if your under the only the opp can touch you for speed
      A little help here would be great
      Thanks in advance

  • Hey James did you sign up for the insurance
    deal where they monitor your car for drive time
    and speed to set your insurance rate ??
    It just started with truckers every one is next.
    Just say No to ….

  • Not sure why the enforcement takes place at 115K/hr when limiters are to be set at 105K/hr? Lots of Quebec truckers will run afoul of this new enforcement initiative.

  • Trucks in Ontario must have their speed governed to 105 km/h. However, if caught travelling 115 km/h, police or MTO can charge them with not having a functioning speed limiter without having to plug into the ECM. The assumption being if you are travelling 115 km/h, you clearly do not have a functioning speed limiter (unless, of course, you’re freewheeling down a grade).
    James

  • Karl, you are correct. Trucks with older engines (pre-95 I believe) don’t have to comply, as they don’t have the necessary electronics built into the engine.
    If you don’t exceed 100 km/h, I don’t think you have to worry about MTO using radar.
    James

  • Correct me if I’m wrong but my 1995 Western Star built in Dec. 1994 is not required to have a speed limiter.Also what is the problem I drive in the right lane mf the time and never see my speedometer above 100 kmh along with every other truck on the road so tell me where is the problem so great that they need radar in mto vehicles is this going to be the next tax grab???

  • Does this also mean that MTO Enforcement Officers will be monitoring commercial vehicles going over posted speed limits? In effect, acting like radar “police” for commercial vehicles?

    • That’s what they are saying they can fine you with speeding, or any other highway traffic act. So basically the are mto cops just focused on commercial vehicles.

  • I don’t see this as a tax grab but a waste of my tax dollars. They won’t catch enough trucks over 115 km/hr to pay for the radar guns. I want to see the totals at the end of a year of using these on trucks only. I am up and down 401 weekly and honestly don’t believe there are enough trucks running that speed to justify the cost.
    Get real people! Most trucks cannot afford the fuel to run the high speeds that lots of us used to drive. (I remember when 118 was my standard speed). Are there trucks over 105 – yes. But most of them are 106-108, and lots of trucks only make 103-104, all have governors set at a theoretical 105. The difference is in how accurate the speedos are. My regular ride is set at 105 but won’t hold more than 103 on a radar gun. When trucks go blowing by you they seem to be flying, but honestly the radar says 108, that’s all, and the limiter is set to 105.
    I didn’t say there were no trucks over 115! Some who run into the Midwest have spent money on various ways of bypassing the governors by times, as a means of self preservation in 75 mph zones, so it can be done. However, it is rare to see this happening here and there are very few who can justify the fuel costs associated with steady driving at those speeds.

    • You are absolutely right g.paul and how can they in force trucks running out of the U.S like Texas were the speed limit is 80 M/HR and other states that run close to that. My truck is set for 105 KM/H and is lucky to hold 104 KM/H. And drivers trucks that are set for 105-106 seem to fly by.

  • This is just another tool to swell these egotistical wannabee officers already oversized heads with more authority , next they will want to carry guns because the big burly truck drivers scare them .

  • They keep using old studies to justify modern changes to problems that no longer exist as they once did.

    Where is the line between law enforcement and harassment? You know it won’t stop there. They’ll be pulling trucks over for anything.

    Speaking of moving violations. Just yesterday, an MTO car cut me off in traffic. Maybe they can learn to drive by the same laws they will be enforcing.

  • So – speed limit is 100 km/h, limiters are set to 105 km/h and they’re not going to stop unless we’re doing 115km/h. So now they’re going to charge us with violating the speed limiter law for coasting down hills, even when we have paperwork proving the speed limiter is set and password protected. How can we follow the law when they can’t even figure them out?

  • just makes it an easier choice. don’t go there any more.who wants to truck with this new crap anymore anyway.i got my 35 years in and won’t miss it.

  • as we all know there is only a minority of trucking company drivers that are now the majority of drivers that will start to cry foul if they are pulled over for speeding, we all know who they are.

  • So, were in the law does is say a vehicle “travelling at a speed greater than 115 km/h to not have a functioning system” A speed limited truck can easily go faster than 115 on a down slope. The current law does not specify brakes must be automatically applied to limit maximum truck speed.

    MTO and the government is making up rules that have no basis in law. There are may situations where applying brakes at the wrong moment can lead to the serious accident. This brand rule is extremely dangerous.

  • it amazes me that the trucking industry takes all this crap without an ounce of protest. Once again the gov’t has focused it’s biased rulings at the minority. If the MTO are going to have radar let them enforce the speed limit on anyone who is breaking it – how about the 130kph 4 wheelers. And why are they not gov’d at 105 anyway – can we say political suicide. The OPP’s have a real power trip when they pull over any commercial vehicle for inspection – but pull over a 4 wheeler for a headlight out – damn rarely. I know a pick up truck with a smashed windshield for almost a year – yet let a power tripper MTO see a small chip in the big rig and your toast. what a joke. no wonder there is no respect for johnny law.

  • Unfortunately? this is how politics work now! the party in power will crap on the minority vote, to gain votes thus ensuring an election win? is happening at all levels! what ticks me off? is when the politicians allow the bureaucracy to interpret the law as they see fit! remember they have spent themselves into a huge hole! and intend finance they way along by fines, fees,ETC.ETC. will never forgive them for their annual CVOR renewal fee!!

  • Wow i have never wanted to post as much as I do when I read about them.
    Just amazing I was traveling with another 1 of my trucks he got pulled into scales I followed not my typical move. But had nothing to hide went in with my driver did there thing with him paper and inspection. I was just there with the driver nothing to do with me watched another MTO flirting with Female MTO officer so cute. Never the less when I left the officer flirting pulled me over down the road? asked why he didn’t inspect me while I was at scale house. No comment just told him I guess you were to busy flirting with you co worker. Again no comment just the serious look as though I am God. Back off I am a truck driver doing my job. Truck Drivers used to be some of the most courteous drivers out there what happened.Just have a good look around We all know what happened the internet and these colume just allow us to share it.As for the Welland MTO officer now removed from his job he should have have 2 radar guns 1 for each hand. Fed up.Looking forward to that pethetic truckers pension and the memories of harassment.

  • Lol @ Richard….sure bud, I bet you tell everyone you were a big tough guy when you got pulled over, meanwhile you were crying like a little baby cause you were driving around with an unsafe truck and it’s everyone else’s problem….not yours, right? Grow up and be a big boy trucker, or stop calling yourself one.

  • I think it is about time they did this. I to an a truck driver, BUT there certainly is a lot of drivers doing more then 105kph. On top of that, a lot of them don’t look when lane changing or just rush into the middle lane to slow the rest of traffic up. I understand using the centre lane to pass, but why the hell do 95% of you still travel in the centre lane? OK, so you’re pissed you are not allowed to go any faster then 105kph, so you take it out on the every day commuter. Now you want to talk about growing up? Here would be a good place to start. Drive in the right hand lane unless you are going to pass. Also, look before you change lanes and lastly, drive the speed limit. It’s been this way for years now and still you whine about it. Get over it and do your job and professional about it. Overall, be courteous and maybe we’ll get a good name again. Overall, if you are abiding by the rules of the road, you won’t need to worry about the radar.

  • I’m tired of truckers feeling sorry for themselves. This has little to nothing to do with politics and more to do with enforcing the speed limiter legislation. Up to now, there has only been 1 way to check for compliance and that was to plug into the on-board computer. The fact is that drivers have found another way to chart the speed limiter by letting their rig run down hill by force of gravity. Whether you go to a shady shop to have your speed limiter deleted or tampered with or you intentionally try to get as much out of your truck down hill, you are attempting to chart the technology in place. MTO is being very generous here at 115 kph so the driver that runs over that is out to lunch or simply uncaring about their behaviour to others around them.
    Many times I have to run empty from Northern Ontario in bad weather where 105kph with an empty wagon is not do-able, I have to share the road with lumber trucks or what have you, who care less about other motorists and will hound another vehicle because they’re loaded and they have traction. Whatever happened to reducing your speed in bad weather?
    If theres one thing that speed limiters have done is to highlight the professionals and the posers. I repeatedly have to deal with truckers who need to be at 105 kph in an 80, 90, or 100kph zone. There is also the driver who needs to hound or badger the next guy in line on any given highway because their truck might have 1 kph more than the next guy. Follow the drivers who would travel in a close knit pack or conga line all the way to Montreal while jockeying for pole position to within half a trailer length of each other and you will find the hacks in this business giving others the business. Professional indeed

  • It is time for the MTO to enforce Safety ANYWAY THEY CAN. Be it speed limiters, safety or any other issue. However being a Safety and Compliance Consultant, I can honestly say, lately there are too many REAL BAD APPLE Auditors out there. You want respect from drivers EARN IT. You cannot demand it. If you pull over a truck, for going 107KMH how unsafe is it, especially if they were trying to pass a driver going 80 KM/H on the same road. Better idea is to have the guys with radars equipped, with UP TO DATE’ CVOR`s and target the bad carriers who just do not give a hoot.

  • This is not Indiana, Ohio, or Michigan where truckers get ticketed for 2 mph over the limit. Clearly stated that 115kph will be the parameter or gauge by which this law will be enforced. The evidentiary presumption provision states that at 115kph, the speed limiter is not functioning as it should which is false. As with anything that has been engineered, it is not a full-proof technology that can hold that much weight and speed back if the driver knowingly or unknowingly lets the truck and load fly down the hill. If the driver Knowingly lets the truck run by force of gravity, then at 115kph, they are intentionally thwarting the speed limiter. I don’t know how you can unknowingly run over 115kph. As a driver, if you make no effort to see or feel the grade then, for that moment, you are negligent in your operation and understanding of this technology. The speed limiter cannot hold back the rig on a steep grade and drivers know it and use those opportunities to speed.
    I have come across rigs that would over-speed on level ground where some engines are much more difficult to overs-speed.
    Perhaps it’s a stop gap measure to deal with drivers that were never trained on etiquette.
    To be a professional driver is to be non-confrontational to other motorists and I don’t know how you do that when you’re blazing down a steep hill. A professional is willing to accommodate others regardless of their behaviour.
    Anyone can be trained to drive a truck so this really depends on your own definition of “Professional.”

  • Craig W

    Most drivers do not know about the Highway Traffic Act 147. which states that all vehicles travel in the right lane unless passing or going to make a left hand turn. It does not matter if it is a three lane road or two lane road (within city limits, not highway driving)
    Too bad the Truck Training Schools can not train a new driver to be courteous and act like an adult who has patience.

  • how does the government consider it safe with limiting trucks to 105kph when the OPP allow cars to travel 120+ kph, cars get impatient when trucks try to pass another vehicle going slower, and when the truck goes to pass 99% of the time the vehicle the truck is passing picks up speed. I’ve been in this industry over 30yrs and with cars not understanding trucks like 20+ yrs ago and government controlling everything we do only gets us veteran drivers to leave and having inexperienced drivers who have no family history of trucking coming from another failed industry driving automatic trucks will only get worse.

    The government needs to go after aggressive cars/trucks who tailgate, speed, and have road rage equally. 120+ kph for cars in a 100kph zone is very unsafe especially with other traffic going 100kph. Cars & trucks should be treated equally for enforcement. I’ve seen many cars that shouldn’t be on the road or atleast ticketed for no lights, carrying too much weight, or just a junk. Trucks are constantly inspected and ticketed for defects, why aren’t cars.

    Remember the interstate highway systems were made for commercial vehicles, emergency vehicles, and military vehicles to ease heavy truck traffic in city streets and faster emergency responce time, not for cars to race. If trucks have to pay more expences to use the roads then they should have equal or less retrictions then cars.

    Well thats my opinion from over 30yrs of commercial driving. God bless and safe travels to all

  • Martin CDS

    Though you are correct and I would say probably 85% of drivers don’t know about driving in the right lane unless to pass, BUT trucks now a days just drive in the centre lane just to slow traffic down. I now don’t drive truck and work locally, yet it takes me almost 20 minutes to drive 15kms to get to work. I travel the QEW from Burlington to Oakville and I see this every day from Monday to Friday, even in the middle of the night when there is no one around. This being said, knowing you are supposed to limited to 105kph, why drive in the middle lane if you are not passing or going to pass some one? Just drives me crazy that VETERAN drivers as well as new drivers do this. We all drive cars here as well, so no need for this as we all suffer the consequences of ignorant drivers who give us all a bad name.

  • Where is the speed limiter in the 4wheelers. I drive appox 4 times as many kms per year as my wife and 10 times as many as my daughter and have done so for more than 20 years but this speed limiter makes me a better driver? I think that either you are a good driver or not, speed limiters are just for the people that need a sign.

  • I’m totally with you Craig and Martin. If the mto/Opp wanted to make are highways better,start ticketing ppl who don’t move or sit in the middle lane or the hammer lane. When did ppl get so retarded, if you drive on the 401east in the express lane, have you notice All Lanes hit there brakes when cars take the 400 north exit? I can’t for the life of me figure out why? It’s the same out 401 west and the kitchener, cambridge cut off, everyone hits there brakes cuz ppl are exiting the hywy…

  • I do not know why most commercial drivers in the GTA do not use the outside lane for turning. Using the inside lane causes all kinds of obvious problems.
    I’ve also noticed most 4-wheelers tend to stop instead of veering over to the sides when emergency vehicles are approaching or trying to pass.

  • I would say you would find many trucks in the second lane from the right in a metropolitan area because a truck travelling at a constant predictable speed is too hard for a four wheeler to merge with. I’m saying this fecitiously because most four wheelers on an onramp can’t decide if they should go in front or behind the truck they are merging with.

    Additionally most drivers would expect the truck or other vehicle currently travelling on the highway to vary its speed to let them in. It would actually be much safer for the truck to stay in the second lane from the right to avoid constant lane changes and dangerous merges thru town with vehicles too concerned with phones ,radios and texting while merging onto highways.

    The last 10 years driving has been getting very dangerous with distractions and the “me first” attitudes from the average driver. In the last 5 years especially the quality of drivers has degraded exponentially!

    • In the last 10 years? Wait, do you mean to tell me that anyone is surprised by this?
      Since speed limiters have been in effect, and 4wheelers have been getting progressively more pissed off at heavy commercial vehicles, the levels of road rage haven’t gone down?
      A blind man saw that one coming.

  • million plus miles accident free

    Though I agree that the quality of most drivers, being truck or car, has degraded, a truck driving in the centre lane at 105kph is more of a disruption to the flow of traffic. It is so because we all know that 100KPH is not what is being travelled on our highways. Also, now when there is a slow down and you have a truck or several trucks in the middle lane it takes a lot longer for the truck or trucks to get going again. So, being in the centre lane is not a good idea at all because like I said, disrupts traffic. I’m not saying don’t use the middle lane, but use it to pass and if you can’t, remain in the right lane and be courteous. Let’s try to get a good name back for the trucking industry since it has been tarnished by many others.