Test your driving knowledge

Linda McAvoy

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

A recent column chiding "butt flickers" – those obnoxious smokers who toss their cigarettes out of car windows – prompted a surprising number of people to comment that they "didn't know" about Ontario's applicable $110 fine for littering.

Which got me wondering: What else don't drivers know?

It's a loaded question, for sure, but let's presume (ha!) that most drivers know the basic rules of the road. (You do know that when traffic lights malfunction, the intersection should be treated as one with all-way stop signs, right?)

Beyond memorizing the entire contents of the Driver's Handbook, there's such a deluge of driving information out there that even the most erudite motorist may not know:

Those convicted of a driving-related offence in New York and Michigan, or in any other Canadian province or territory, will have home jurisdictional penalties such as demerit points and/or suspensions applied to their Ontario driver record, as if the offence had occurred in Ontario.

Repeat drunk drivers can be forced to forfeit their cars to the government.

Under new amendments to Ontario's civil forfeiture legislation, which came into effect in February, if the Superior Court of Justice is satisfied that the owner of a vehicle has been suspended from driving for a drinking-and-driving offence two or more times in the past 10 years, and that specific vehicles were used, or are likely to be used, in a drinking-and-driving offence, those vehicles can be permanently forfeited.

Demerit points stay on your record for two years following the date of the offence.

Canadian drivers suspected of being impaired by drugs cannot refuse a roadside sobriety test (as of July 2008).

If found to be impaired after a roadside test, the driver must then submit to a drug evaluation and classification assessment – a 12-step process conducted by a specially trained officer who can demand that the driver provide a blood, saliva or urine sample. Refusal to do so is a Criminal Code offence.

Most people are aware that drivers who do not pull over and stop for an approaching emergency vehicle could face a minimum fine of $110 plus three demerit points.

But Ontario's Highway Traffic Act also requires motorists who come upon a police, fire or ambulance vehicle that is stopped with its emergency lights flashing, in the same direction of travel (either in a lane or on the shoulder of a road or highway), to slow down and pass with caution.

If the road has two or more lanes, the motorist must move over into another lane if it can be done safely. Failing to move over for a stopped emergency vehicle can end in a fine of up to $2,000 plus three demerits.

The maximum punishment for impaired driving causing death is life imprisonment, increased from 14 years in 2000.

The fully licensed driver required to accompany a new G1 driver must have a blood-alcohol level of less than .05 per cent.

Get caught driving while suspended in Ontario for a Criminal Code conviction, and the vehicle you're driving will be immediately impounded – regardless of whether that vehicle belongs to your mom or a friend, whether it's used for business or rented.

The vehicle owner is liable for the towing and storage fee, which, according to the Ministry of Transportation, could be as much as $1,800 for the 45-day impoundment period.

There is, incidentally, a $100 non-refundable fee to file an appeal with the Licence Appeal Tribunal.

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