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The insurance industry in Ontario categorize convictions on your driving record as MAJOR and MINOR offences. Major offences include all criminal driving offences i.e.. Impaired Driving, and the following Highway Traffic Act offences: Fail to remain at an accident, Fail to stop for Police, Careless Driving, Fail to stop for school bus, Racing, Speeding over 50 km/h, Fail to report accident, Driving while under suspension, and any G1 or G2 Drivers license conditions offences. A major conviction can result in a premium increase of 50-300% or higher. Your insurance company may also choose not to renew your policy, and you would then be labelled as a high risk driver, and placed into facility insurance where the premiums are very high. You could remain there for 3 years (minimum) or longer.
A driver's license suspension for unpaid fines or any other reason will appear on your driving record resulting in an increase in your premiums or cancellation of your policy.
Fraud or misrepresentation to the insurance company is also considered a major offence and will be held against you for up to 6 years.
Minor offences include any other Highway Traffic Act, Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act, or Municipal traffic bylaw offences. Speeding convictions between 30-49 km/h over the limit are treated more seriously than a minor offence by some insurance companies but not as serious as a major offence. These higher speeding convictions can have an immediate premium increase.
By-law parking tickets may not affect your driver's license and they may not reflect on your driving record.
Some insurance companies will not renew your policy if you have 3 or more convictions on your record within a 3 year period. Convictions are held against you by the insurance companies for a minimum of 3 years before they forgive and forget. Insurance companies hold all convictions against you whether they are equipment or minor offences that carry no demerit points. Insurance companies are not interested in demerit points in most instances, but insurers of commercial fleets can consider a driver's demerit and CVOR points. If the driver has 6 or more demerit points on their record, they can be deemed un-insurable by the insurance company.
All convictions remain on your driving record for the rest of your life. Only demerit points subtract off your record after two years from the date of the offence. Pardons only apply to criminal driving offences, if granted.
Insurance companies assess fault in relation to accidents. If you are assessed an at fault accident, it will be held against you for a minimum of 5 years before the insurance company forgives and forgets. Additional at fault accidents within the 5 years will further increase your risk factor as a driver and further increase your premiums.
Insurance companies differ on their policies with regards to the number of convictions and time limits etc. A few things to make note of if you receive a ticket. Before you act on the ticket consult with someone as to the repercussions. Some charges carry very high fines, into the thousands of dollars, drivers license or motor vehicle permit suspensions, demerit points, and even jail.
It is not unusual for some unfortunate drivers to be paying several thousand dollars for car insurance because they didn't react properly to a ticket. Before you pay that ticket, get the facts first.
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Eight out of ten Canadian drivers admit that they have one or more bad driving habits. A poll released by Kanetix.ca and Leger Marketing shows that the most common bad driving habit is the consumption of food and beverages while driving, with 39% of drivers admitting to this driving habit. "Our poll clearly indicates many motorists have no qualms with eating or drinking behind the wheel, however, when drivers take their eyes off the road, even for a second, there can be serious consequences," advises Kanetix.ca'sJanine White, Director, Marketplace.
Speeding is a close second with 36% followed by talking/texting on a cell phone at 18%. Men seem to have particular problems with speeding as 41% of male respondents listed speeding as their number one driving vice. Ontario drivers seem to be the worst speeding offenders among the provinces with 42% of Ontario drivers admitting to speeding in excess of the speed limit. However, Getting to work faster may come at a heavy price since even if speeders avoid an accident many insurance companies will increase insurance rates as much as 15% for a single speeding ticket.
Following too closely may only be number four on the list of bad driving habits (with 16% of drivers admitting to this mistake) but the Ontario Provincial Police list following too closely as the number one leading cause of collisions.
Here is a summary of the survey results:
Consuming food or beverages while driving................. 39% Speeding............................................................... 36% Talking/Texting on my cell while driving..................... 18% Following too closely............................................... 16% Road rage.............................................................. 11% Failing to signal....................................................... 10% Weaving in and out of traffic...................................... 7% Applying makeup while driving.................................... 3% Parking illegally........................................................ 3% Parking in handicap spaces........................................ 2% Driving in the carpool lane......................................... 1% Other..................................................................... 3% None of the above - I am a perfect driver................... 19%
Not necessarily. It all depends on the nature of the mistake. The majority of mistakes can be amended by the court, either after being pointed out to the justice of the peace by the prosecutor or the person charged. The authority for amending the ticket falls under section 34 of the Provincial Offences Act.
Discuss with your POINTTS representative what you believe to be a mistake. They will be able to advise if it is fatal to the charge or amendable.