Different jurisdictions have different penalties. There are penalties for speeding, stunt driving, drunk driving, distracted driving and failure to obey traffic signals. I feel the all of these penalties should be DOUBLED in the event of property damage and tripled in the case of injury and quadrupled in the case of death. A $400 distracted driving penalty like we have here in Ontario, seems suitable. But is $400 with or without an accident or injury.
Select parts from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/stunt-driving-list-1.3311954 for Ontario rules.
1. If you get charged with stunt driving, your licence is automatically taken away.
... people are always surprised when police pull them over and take away their licence on the spot.
2. Your car gets impounded for seven days — even if it's your mom's car.
Coluzzi said police impound the car no matter who it belongs to. In the past, that's included rental cars, company cars, and your parent's car. Whoever the car belongs to will be on the hook to pay the fee for towing, along with the fees for keeping the car at the impound lot for seven days.
"If it's mom's vehicle, and the son was driving it, the mom might say, 'son you're paying for that tow,'" Coluzzi said. "But if the mom wants her car back, she's going to obviously [have to] pay it."
3. Stunt driving involves more than just speeding — it also deals with actual stunts and road rage.
Driving on a bet, popping wheelies, and doing donuts (spinning in a circle without maintaining control) all count as stunt driving.
If you've got road rage, you'll want to watch out too. Coluzzi said if you're purposefully not letting someone pass, driving to close, or trying to make someone rear-end you, that's stunt driving. If you turn left at an intersection and cut the traffic off going the opposite direction, that will count too.
4. Putting your friend in the trunk of your car counts as stunt driving too.
Short on seats? You might want to think twice before you get your extra friend to take a ride in your trunk. Coluzzi said he's never personally seen it, but it has happened.
Another more unique charge: "Fail to occupy the driver's seat of the vehicle." Coluzzi said he isn't too sure how this logistically could happen, but it would involve driving the motor vehicle while the driver isn't sitting in the driver's the seat. "Somebody else is controlling the wheel, and you're not in control of the gas or breaking," he said. "It would be an odd situation."
5. The fine for stunt driving is double the fine for drunk driving.
If convicted, the minimum first-time fine for stunt driving is $2,000. That fine can go all the way up to $10,000. You could also end up with six months in jail and a 2 year licence suspension. In comparison, the first-time fine for drunk driving comes with a $1,000 charge.
Those are Ontario laws. For this case on the a140, 18 weeks for this with no financial penalty seems inappropriate to me. Note point 5 and compare to this case on the a140.
Ontario gave a drunk driver a 10 year sentence for an accident that killed four. I believe gross negligence under the wheel should be treated although not as severely, but under the same concept as attempted murder. Ok, I am not saying some be imprisoned for years, but give a harsher penalty than community service and if a repeat offender, perhaps driving privileges forever.
