Getting caught stunt driving in Ontario could send you back to driving school

People caught stunt driving could face a new penalty.

As of Friday, April 1, drivers convicted of stunt driving in Ontario will now have to enter into a driver improvement course, or they will have their licence taken away, according to the Ministry of Transportation.

“We’re sending a clear message to dangerous divers: there’s no place for you on our roads,” a tweet from the ministry posted on Friday reads.

There is a select list of government-approved companies that can deliver the course, which must be completed within 60 days of the conviction.

Stunt driving or street racing in Ontario can also result in:

• An immediate 30-day driver’s licence suspension;
• An immediate 14-day vehicle impoundment at roadside;
• A minimum fine of $1,2000 and a maximum fine of $10,000;
• A jail term of up to six months;
• A post-conviction licence suspension of: between one and three years for the first conviction; between three and five years for a second conviction; a lifetime suspension, reducible after 10 years under certain criteria, for a third conviction; a lifetime suspension, non-reducible, for a fourth and subsequent convictions;
• Six demerit points

Last July, Ottawa police reported an increase of speeders and stunt drivers in the city.

“Statistics show we’ve definitely got an issue,” Sgt. Rob Cairns of the Ottawa Police Service’s traffic escort unit told The Sam Laprade Show in July. “In 2017, throughout the whole year, we only had 74 stunt driving charges laid; in 2020 we saw 455 for the whole year; and just this year to date we’re up to 340 as of [July 16].”

On July 1, the province made some changes to impose steeper penalties through the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act — or MOMs Act.

The act decreases the threshold for stunt driving on municipal streets to 40 km/h over the speed limit, instead of 50 km/h.

Motorists who are now caught going 40 km/h over the speed limit with a speed limit of 80 km/h or less can be slapped with stunt driving charges (it used to be 50 km/h or more on a residential street).

Then in September, the province introduced an extension on the driving licence suspension to 30 days, up from the previous seven days.