Highlighting The Laws Introduced In Ontario At The Start of 2019

Every year, at the start of January, the residents within any municipality in Ontario can expect to learn about some new laws. As was the case in previous years, 2019 has favored the local community with laws that were designed to keep community members safe from harm.

New rules on penalties for distracted driving:

A driver that has committed a first offence should get fined $1,000, and should have his or her license suspended for 3 days. Drivers committing a second offence should get fined $2,000, and should have their license suspended for 7 days. Any driver that dares to commit a third offence, or more than 3 offences should get fined $3,000, and should get his or her license suspended for 30 days.

It should be noted that the nature of a distracted driving offence can be seen in a very simple act. A driver’s willingness to use a cell phone while controlling the steering wheel should be viewed as evidence of distracted driving.

New rule that applies to tractors:

All tractors on the road in Ontario should have an electronic stability control system. That provision represents an attempt to prevent the occurrence of roll-overs. An unstable combination of vehicles is likely to roll-over at some point.

New rules that apply to the owners of certain small businesses:

Any employer with 20 or more employees must create guidelines for handling violence and harassment in the workplace. Injuries that result from such violent acts fall on the listing of workplace injuries that are covered by workers’ compensation. Consequently, an employer’s ability to handle such violence helps to limit the number of injuries that get covered by the Workers’ Compensation funds.

New guidelines for fining those that have been found guilty of driving while under the influence of alcohol:

A driver with a blood alcohol level above 0.05% should be fined $250, if that is the driver’s first offence. While drivers found to have a blood alcohol level above 0.05% for a second time should be fined $350. Any driver found to have a blood alcohol level above 0.05% for a third time, or for more than 3 times should get fined a quantity of $450.

Personal injury lawyers in Oakville can use evidence of a driver’s misconduct to win a larger compensation for a given client. That is not a provision that has been added to the law. However, the stated rule, regarding the acceptable alcohol concentration for a driver on the road does hand to a personal injury lawyer a stronger weapon, when a client has been injured by a drunk driver. That weapon becomes even stronger, if the driver that was suspected of driving under the influence has objected to the requested test.