Demerit Points
Most traffic tickets in Ontario have demerit points associated with the offence. These demerit points are not listed on the ticket and officers are not authorized to assign an amount of demerit points to a traffic ticket offence. Demerit points are a standard put forth by the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario. When you are found guilty of a traffic ticket in court, that offence will appear on your driver’s record with the specified amount of demerit points associated with it. For an up to date list of different offences and the demerit points they carry, please see the chart below. If you accumulate enough demerit points on your record, you could face an interview with the Ministry of Transportation or even a licence suspension for having too many demerit points. Here is an indication of how demerit points could affect the state of your licence:
Demerit Points and Fully Licenced Drivers
If you are a fully licenced driver and you accumulate 6 demerit points on your record, you will be sent a warning letter in the mail. If you accumulate 9 points, an interview will be set for you to go into the Ministry of Transportation to discuss your driving record and to offer reasons why they should not suspend your licence. If you do not attend this interview, your licence will likely be suspended. If you accumulate 15 demerit points, your licence will be suspended for 30 days from the time that you surrender your licence to the Ministry of Transportation. If you fail to surrender your licence, you can lose your licence for up to 2 years. After the suspension you may be required to complete a driver re-examination (vision, knowledge and road tests), the number of points on your record will be reduced to 7. Any extra points could again bring you to the interview level. If you reach 15 points again, your licence will be suspended for 6 months.
Even if a traffic ticket does not carry any demerit points, paying the ticket is still pleading guilty to the offence and a traffic ticket conviction will still be registered on your record which could still increase your insurance rates. The only way to avoid a traffic ticket on your record is to fight the ticket in court for a chance to have the ticket reduced or eliminated.
Demerit Points and New Drivers
If you are a class G1, G2, M1 or M2 driver, once you accumulate a minimum of 2 or more demerit points on your record, you will be sent a warning letter in the mail. Once you receive 6 demerit points, an interview will be set for you to go into the Ministry of Transportation to discuss your driving record and to offer reasons why they should not suspend your licence. If you do not attend this interview, your licence will likely be suspended. If you accumulate 9 demerit points, your licence will be suspended for 60 days from the time that you surrender your licence to the Ministry of Transportation. If you fail to surrender your licence, you can lose your licence for up to 2 years. After the suspension period, the number of points on your record will be reduced to 4. Any additional points could again bring you to the interview level. If you reach 9 points again, your licence can be suspended for 6 months from the date you surrender it to the Ministry of Transportation.
| Highway Traffic Act Offence |
Demerit Points | Short Description of Offences |
|---|---|---|
| Section 200 | 7 | Failing to remain at scene of accident |
| Section 216 except where a suspension order is made under subsection 216 (3) | 7 | Driver failing to stop when signaled or requested to stop by a police officer |
| Section 172 | 6 | Racing & Stunt Driving - Exceeding the speed limit by 50km or more |
| Section 130 | 6 | Careless driving |
| Section 128 | 3-6 | Speeding |
| Section 128 (a) 50 km/h or more | 6 | Exceeding speed limit by 50 km/h or more |
| Section 128 (b) 30 km/h or more and less than 50 km/h | 4 | Exceeding speed limit by 30 to 49 km/h |
| Section 128 (c) more than 15 km/h and less than 30 km/h | 3 | Exceeding speed limit by 16 to 29 km/h |
| Section 174 (1) and (2) | 5 | Driver of public vehicle or school bus failing to stop at railway crossings |
| Section 164 | 3 | Driving through, around or under railway crossing barrier |
| Section 135 (2) and (3) Section 136 (1) (b) 136 (2) Section 138 (1) Section 139 (1) Section 141 (5) Section 144 (7), (8) and (21) |
3 | Failing to yield right of way |
| Section 136 (1) (a) Section 144 (14), (15), (16), (17), (18) and (21) Section 146 (3) and (4) Section 163 Any municipal by-law requiring a driver to stop for a stop sign or signal light. |
3 | Failing to obey a stop sign, signal light or railway crossing signal |
| Section 134 (1) | 3 | Failing to obey directions of police constable |
| Section 134 (3) | 3 | Driving or operating a vehicle on a closed highway |
| Sections 199 (1) and (1.1) | 3 | Failing to report an accident |
| Section 148 (8) Section 149 Section 150 Section 166 |
3 | Improper passing |
| Section 154 | 3 | Improper driving where highway divided into lanes |
| Sections 175 (11) and (12) | 6 | Failing to stop for school bus |
| Section 158 | 4 | Following too closely |
| Section 162 | 3 | Crowding driver's seat |
| Clause 156 (1) (a) | 3 | Drive wrong way - divided highway |
| Clause 156 (1) (b) | 3 | Cross divided highway - no proper crossing provided |
| Section 153 | 3 | Wrong way in one way street or highway |
| Subsection 157 (1) | 2 | Backing on highway |
| Subsections 140 (1), (2) and (3) t | 3 | Pedestrian crossover |
| Subsections 148 (1), (2), (4), (5), (6) and (7) | 2 | Failing to share road |
| Subsections 141 (2) and (3) | 2 | Improper right turn |
| Subsections 141 (6) and (7) | 2 | Improper left turn |
| Subsections 142 (1), (2) and (8) | 2 | Failing to signal |
| Section 132 | 2 | Unnecessary slow driving |
| Section 168 | 2 | Failing to lower headlamp beam |
| Section 165 | 2 | Improper opening of vehicle door |
| Section 143 and subsection 144 (9) Any municipal by-law prohibiting turns |
2 | Prohibited turns |
| Section 160 | 2 | Towing of persons on toboggans, bicycles, skis, etc., prohibited |
| Subsection 182 (2) | 2 | Failing to obey signs prescribed by regulation under subsection 182 (1) |
| Subsection 106 (3) | 2 | Driver failing to wear complete seat belt assembly |
| Subsection 106 (6) | 2 | Driver failing to ensure passenger under 16 years wears complete seat belt assembly |
| Section 8 (2) of Regulation 613 | 2 | Driver failing to ensure infant passenger is secured as prescribed |
| Section 8 (3) of Regulation 613 | 2 | Driver failing to ensure toddler passenger is secured as prescribed |
| Section 8 (4) of Regulation 613 | 2 | Driver failing to ensure child passenger is secured as prescribed |
| Section 159.1 (1) | 3 | Failing to slow down and proceed with caution when approaching stopped emergency vehicle |
| Subsection 159.1 (2) | 3 | Failing to move into another lane when approaching stopped emergency vehicle - if safe to do |
| Subsection 79 (2) | 3 | Motor vehicle equipped with or carrying a speed measuring warning device |
| Subsection 154.1 (3) | 3 | Improper use of high occupancy vehicle lane |
| Subsection 146.1 (3) | 3 | Failing to obey traffic control stop sign |
| Subsection 146.1 (4) | 3 | Failing to obey traffic control slow sign |
| Subsection 176 (3) | 3 | Failing to obey school crossing stop sign |