henric
06-23-2012, 03:43 PM
June 23, 2012, by Nicholas Maronese
An Ontario truck driver who argued his truck's provincially mandated speed limiter put his life in danger convinced a justice of the peace the law requiring the devices is unconstitutional.
Earlier this month Justice of the Peace Brett Kelly ruled the provincial law requiring electronic limiters that restrict large trucks' top speed to 105 km/h violates the Charter that guarantees life, liberty and the security of the person.
The case was brought forth by transport truck driver Gene Michaud, 58, of St. Catharines, Ontario, who said the limiter law, which has been in place since January 2009, put his life at risk, reports the Toronto Star.
“Inability to accelerate or not accelerate fully places a driver in a less than safe situation because we have taken some of the tools required to drive properly away from the driver,” Kelly declared.
“If the goal of this legislation was to increase safety it cannot be done in this fashion.”
The Ontario ministry of transportation is expected to appeal the decision by bringing the ruling before a higher court.
Michaud, who has 38 years of experience driving trucks, was issued a $490 ticket in July 2009 when a transportation ministry enforcement officer at a weigh scale found his limiter'd been tweaked to 109 km/h.
“I hope that somebody is going to wake up now in the government and take this law out, strike it down altogether. And maybe it will save a few lives,” Michaud told the Star. “All it does is frustrate car drivers and it causes them to do something silly, like cutting off the big trucks.”
Transporation Minister Bob Chiarelli says the attorney general is reviewing the decision, but that in the mean time, nothing has changed.
He noted that when the speed limiters were introduced, fatalities involving large trucks immediately went down 24 percent, numbers mirrored by a Transport Canada study of truck speed limiter laws abroad.
(Wheels and the Toronto Star)
An Ontario truck driver who argued his truck's provincially mandated speed limiter put his life in danger convinced a justice of the peace the law requiring the devices is unconstitutional.
Earlier this month Justice of the Peace Brett Kelly ruled the provincial law requiring electronic limiters that restrict large trucks' top speed to 105 km/h violates the Charter that guarantees life, liberty and the security of the person.
The case was brought forth by transport truck driver Gene Michaud, 58, of St. Catharines, Ontario, who said the limiter law, which has been in place since January 2009, put his life at risk, reports the Toronto Star.
“Inability to accelerate or not accelerate fully places a driver in a less than safe situation because we have taken some of the tools required to drive properly away from the driver,” Kelly declared.
“If the goal of this legislation was to increase safety it cannot be done in this fashion.”
The Ontario ministry of transportation is expected to appeal the decision by bringing the ruling before a higher court.
Michaud, who has 38 years of experience driving trucks, was issued a $490 ticket in July 2009 when a transportation ministry enforcement officer at a weigh scale found his limiter'd been tweaked to 109 km/h.
“I hope that somebody is going to wake up now in the government and take this law out, strike it down altogether. And maybe it will save a few lives,” Michaud told the Star. “All it does is frustrate car drivers and it causes them to do something silly, like cutting off the big trucks.”
Transporation Minister Bob Chiarelli says the attorney general is reviewing the decision, but that in the mean time, nothing has changed.
He noted that when the speed limiters were introduced, fatalities involving large trucks immediately went down 24 percent, numbers mirrored by a Transport Canada study of truck speed limiter laws abroad.
(Wheels and the Toronto Star)