Agreement to allow Ottawa to ticket out-of-province drivers at red lights
Posted May 22, 2018 07:39:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The City of Ottawa will soon be able to charge drivers who run red lights, even if they're not from Ontario.
The municipality signed the Interprovincial Record Exchange Access Agreement with the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators Tuesday, giving it access to vehicle licensing data from Quebec, Saskatchewan and the Yukon.
“Individuals coming into our province and our city have to respect our laws, and they have to understand there are consequences,” said Mayor Jim Watson, Tuesday. “If you're a Quebec driver and you're going to run through a red light, you're now going to have to pay.”
Newfoundland and Labrador have not yet provided a response to the CCMTA's formal request to access its licence info, while all other provinces and territorial ministries of transportation have advised that they are unable to share their vehicle licensing data.
There are a few more steps the city will need to take, in order to issue red-light camera violations to out-of-province offenders. Those include:
– Confirmation on the file format requirements needed to exchange vehicle licensing data between the CCMTA and the City of Toronto's red-light camera processing centre;
– The implementation of any technical requirements to the red-light camera processing centre's software as per the final file format agreed upon; and,
– The completion of a testing period which will include consultation with the Provincial Offences Court to ensure violation notices are suitable to collect associated fines.
It is expected, barring any unanticipated complications in the software update, that the issuance of red-light camera violations to out-of-province offenders from Quebec, will begin by the end of June. Transportation Services will provide a final update to city council once all processes are in place and tickets are being issued to out of province red-light offenders.
This announcement came alongside the instalment of 20 more red light cameras in Ottawa, Tuesday, to a promise made by council to add cameras during their term.
