Reported by the Canadian Press, Ontario’s controversial street-racing legislation has claimed yet another unlikely victim – a garbage truck driver going 112 km/h in a 60 km zone. The 58 year old man from Clinton ON was pulled over in Goderich and is facing charges for racing and failing to inspect a commercial motor vehicle.

Under the strict new law enacted last fall, the man’s garbage truck as been impounded for 7 days and his license has also been suspended for that period. He also faces a fine of at least $2000. This latest development marks what is certainly a first for the OPP’s aggressive “shock and awe” campaign against speeding, and is sure to place new scrutiny on the operation of commercial vehicles.

The man will have to answer to these charges on June 5 when he appears in a Goderich court. The outcome will be an interesting one and may place a greater onus on private companies to comply to harsher measures – even if their duties require timely collections. Even if the driver’s speed was excessive, for whatever circumstances, being labeled as a ‘street racer’ seems rather dubious, considering there were no other garbage trucks jostling for the pole position.

The holiday weekend proved to be a terrible time for both Ontario’s drivers and police, as the OPP recorded 5 fatalities from collisions on the province’s roads and charged at least 115 people with street racing violations. The numbers mark new records for holiday traffic incidents. From the Toronto Star:

“Victoria Day and Labour Day weekends are the deadliest of the year, said OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley. “For OPP and the people at Sunnybrook, we don’t call it cottage season, but trauma season.”

…Two OPP planes watched the roads for aggressive driving, impaired driving and improper seat belt use. Woolley said thousands of charges were laid over the weekend, two-thirds for speeding.

Last year, 10,000 charges were laid during the Victoria Day weekend, 8,000 for speeding.

Since Friday, more than 100 cars have been taken off the roads by the OPP and 115 people charged with violating street-racing laws. Early Saturday, OPP laid the 5,000th charge since anti-street racing legislation was brought in last September, “a milestone,” said Woolley.

While highway tragedies are expected, the number of street-racing violations is simply staggering. Are Ontario’s drivers prone to having lead feet or is the new law over-extending the reach of individual officers?

Here is a closer look at the weekend’s statistics, from thestar.com:

• The OPP seized 145 vehicles and suspended the drivers’ licences, bringing to 3,884 the number of seven-day suspensions the OPP has handed out since street racing legislation came into effect Sept. 30, 2007.

• The most extreme case of speeding over the long weekend involved a 17-year-old driver who was going 239 km/h in an 80 zone on Highway 26 north of Barrie. His father’s Lincoln was impounded and the youth was charged with street racing, careless driving and failure to surrender his license, according to the Ontario Provincial Police.

• Five people were killed in collisions on roads patrolled by the OPP, down from seven in 2007.

• Provide-wide, police have seized a total of 5,139 vehicles because of drivers going 50 kilometres over the speed limit.

• The OPP laid 5,032 other speeding charges over the weekend.

• Officers laid 489 seatbelt charges.

• The OPP laid 109 impaired driving charges.

• Police laid nine driving-while-prohibited charges.

• They issued 183 12-hour suspensions.

Have you been targeted by the OPP’s aggressive dragnet? While we understand the severe risk that speeding places on Ontario’s roads, we also recognize that new legislation and weekend campaigns can unfairly charge good drivers with serious offences. It’s important that you know your rights and understand that you may have been unjustly pigeonholed as a ‘street-racer’.

Feel free to contact Legal Action, or go through our blog, to get a broader overview of the politics of driving. Don’t delay, get Legal Action today!

From thenewspaper.com: On April 9, the city committee of Toronto approved a proposal to hike red light camera fines to $500, making it the most expensive ticket of its kind in North America. The Public Works and Infrastructure Committed voted to boost the $180 fines to $500, surpassing California’s record $420 limit.

Also approved was the committee’s plan to expand the number of cameras from 20 to 98 by next year, which is said to generate $65,300 in annual fines. According to Gary Welsh, the General Manager of Transportation Services, the hike is meant to help pay private companies to operate the program, a cost that could no longer be met under previous revenues.

“Over the next five years, the estimated project revenues exceed costs by approximately $4,401,100.00,” Welsh wrote in committee memo.

Along with the lucrative new fines, the committee is weighing the option of suspending vehicle registrations for multiple offenders and publishing the license plate numbers of the accused. Following the approval of these measures, the Ontario Minister of Transportation would have to review and implant the revised policies.

As Toronto’s red light program becomes more expensive and wide-reaching, we run the risk of being stuck with a system that is an incredible burden on tax-payers and threat to the privacy and rights of drivers. Before we hastily follow along with this extension, Toronto’s drivers should familiarize themselves with some of the flaws of red light camera systems and urge their councilors to be cautious with the implementation of new measures before things get out of hand.

You can be sure that Legal Action will be following the development of any new measures taking place in Toronto and the rest of Ontario, ensuring that drivers know their rights and get the facts and representation they deserve. Don’t get left behind, get Legal Action today!

As reported by the CBC, police officials in Ottawa are puzzled by the surge in traffic fatalities in 2007 which may end up ranking as the worst year for collisions this decade by its end. The discouraging statistics suggest that the aggressive ticketing campaigns and the installation of red light and speeding cameras across the city are doing little to curb accidents.

Out of 28 fatal accidents, 29 deaths occurred in the first 9 months of the year, already surpassing every previous year for the past 6 years except for 2003, which had 36 fatalities. Police expect this year’s numbers to surpass that. Staff Sgt. Rick Lavigne, the head of the collision investigation unit was baffled between the discrepancy between enforcement measures and fatalities.

“Hopefully, more enforcement will bring down the number of fatal and serious injury collisions,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re not seeing that. We’re at more enforcement now, we have more collisions. That’s going the wrong way. So what is the answer?”

Aggressive driving has been noted as a possible factor to the increase in accidents, which police plan on fighting with a safe-driving blitz. The unfortunate case of Ottawa is a clear example of how certain traffic enforcement measures actually do little to protect motorists from accidents while they still cost ticketed drivers and the taxpayer millions every year.

At Legal Action, we recognize the strain and ineffectiveness of many ticketing programs in Ontario and we are ready to fight for you, and for better, more effective traffic enforcement and education. Contact Legal Action today.

Last year, the Government of Ontario enacted legislation to regulate the paralegal industry. It outlines and enforces stricter educational standards on the profession and better defines what a paralegal can and cannot do in the court room.

The legislation, known as Bill 14, was put into effect on May 1^st, 2007 and allows The Law Society of Upper Canada, which regulates Ontario’s lawyers, to determine policy and administer paralegals in Ontario, for the first time in the province’s history.

Bill 14, dubbed as The Access to Justice Act, follows recommendations put forward by Attorney General Michael Bryant in 2004 in an effort to protect consumers from receiving poor legal advice.

“The Access to Justice Act will provide for paralegal regulation in order to give consumers a choice in qualified legal services while protecting people who get legal advice from non-lawyers. For the first time in Canada’s history, paralegals will be required to receive training, carry liability insurance and report to a public body that can investigate complaints.” (source: Ontario Government)

While The Ontario Bar Association has hailed the new legislation as an improvement to the justice system and thinks it will nullify court delays brought on by untrained paralegals, many trained paralegals are contesting the move.

The Paralegal Society of Ontario had been previously vying for self-regulatory measures, similar to those found in real estate, as they feel that regulations of their profession by lawyers is a means for them to get an edge over their competition.

Many paralegals also feel that the regulatory measures will force out non-advocacy paralegals who end up hurting the working poor, seniors, minorities and immigrants who are most inclined to seek legal advice and documentation for low fees from independent paralegals (source: Dawn Ontario).

Despite the protests, Bill 14 was enacted, with many independent paralegals and firms clamoring for exemptions or making last minute efforts to continue their services under the new guidelines.

At Legal Action, we will continue to report on the developments and controversies surrounding legislation and policy shifts effecting not only paralegals but also ability of average Ontarians to access legal services. Subscribe to Legal Action’s blog for details regarding paralegal services in Toronto.

According to thenewspaper.com, vigilantes across Australia and the UK are out destroying red light cameras, causing thousands of dollars (and pounds) of damage and even endangering camera maintenance workers.

In the UK, cameras in West Midlands and Malvern were either destroyed or reoriented to take pictures at the sky. Some cameras were also burned in gasoline ignited fires. Local media have also reported that the frequency of these incidents have between increasing in the past few months.

The most shocking incident involved a man in Victoria Australia who swung at a tunnel camera while it was being maintained by a camera operator. “At around 6:30pm, a 42-year-old man began swinging and “damaged the plastic wind visor, bent the front number plate upwards and dented the roof of the vehicle,” according to a police statement”. The operator was not injured but the assailant has been charged with assault and criminal damage.

Let this be a lesson to all you angry drivers out there. Don’t lash out against the system by attacking cameras; get Legal Action to do the fighting for you (in the court room, of course).

At Legal Action, we are proud of the paralegal services we have provided Ontarians over the last few years, representing them in small claims court, traffic court and giving them the best in paralegal advice. To bolster our record as one of Ontario’s premier firms for fighting traffic tickets and making small court claims, Legal Action is excited to finally present a new web design and our dynamic blog to better inform and assure our clients that they are getting fair, knowledgeable and efficient legal representation.

Our new site is designed with our clients in mind, presenting everything you need to know in the clearest and most accessible fashion, connecting you to vital paralegal resources you need to win your case and move on with your life.

Our blog also represents Legal Action’s commitment to building trust and communication with our clients, creating a dynamic experience where readers can receive regular updates on news, stories and tips relevant to Ontarians caught in legal jams of all stripes.

Covering the development of new laws, controversies and striking studies, Legal Action’s blog is sure to give readers the edge when it comes to understanding legal matters in Ontario. We are ready to give you the best advice for a variety of legal situations and inquiries, all from the touch of a mouse.

So subscribe to the Legal Action Blog, where show our commitment to clients, bringing you all the facts and details concerning legal issues in Ontario, like, for instance, Toronto petty theft.

Don’t delay, get Legal Action today!