OHTA.ca

Hi, I am new to the forum. I have been trying to get information off of here and www.ticketcombat.com for my case.

I was given a ticket for going 122km/h in a posted 100km/h zone at Hwy 401 east at Thickson Rd in Whitby ON on April 10th, 2009.

I find this absolutely absurd, since I was in the left most lane of the 401 approximately(within 5km/h) following the speed of traffic in my lane. The guy in front of me was within 2 to 3 chevrons, or 6 to 9 vehicle lengths, a safe distance according to the Chevron program in Whitby which states that you should leave at least 2 chevrons between you and the vehicle in front of you, or at least there was a sign which did state that, which is approximately 6 vehicle lengths of space. Therefore my distance was not excessive!

I have had times where lots of people will pass me on the right hand side at 120km/h thru Toronto, and speeds of 130 to 140 km/h as flow of traffic thru the GTA are not uncommon. I guess I have always been under the impression that if you follow the flow of traffic you will not be pulled over for speeding. Apparently that assumption is incorrect but it is a reasonable assumption.

As well I did not have any other safe alternative:

1) at the time I passed the police officer which was in the center lane. When I noticed the officer there were 2 other vehicles following too closely behind the officer, and at that point merging to the center lane from the left lane and slowing down would have mean't I was following too closely(within 1 vehicle length) behind that 2nd vehicle. Hense if he would have slowed down abruptly, I would have not had time to react and that would increase my chance of an accident.

2) I could not slow down in my lane to the speed of the lane to the right of me safely. Since a) There was a vehicle behind me doing the same speed I was for some time, I'd say since around the 404 in Toronto, and slowing down for apparently no reason would have increased the chance of him rear ending me, also Slower traffic should be on the right.

3) I had assumed the person in front of me had also passed the officer in question going approximately the same speed I was, and that I would be fine. Therefore the only reasonable action was to continue the speed I was maintaining, and the vehicle in front and behind me were maintaining to safely pass the officer in the center lane.

This would be my argument for due diligence if speeding is a strict liability offense. First question is it? Second, if it is anyway which would make the above argument stronger?

Second argument, and stronger argument, how was the officer able to get an accurate reading of my speed? Once I passed the officer, he then merged into my lane, and followed me for approximately 2 to 4 km before he put his lights on(from Brock street to just past Thickson at the weight scales). When following me, he was following me WAY WAY too closely, so closely I could not see his license plate of his vehicle right behind me, I could only see his grill and up to the roof of his SUV cruiser. I'd say he wasn't more than 1 vehicle length behind me, perhaps 2 for sake of reasoning, but I doubt it.

In either case he was not the 100m distance or further required to use radar or LIDAR correctly according to the Ticket Combat website.

I suspect though he probably just tried to match my speed to get my speed. However this can't be accurate.

1) Every spedometer is somewhat inaccurate

2) I did not have cruise on and so I was travelling at a variable rate

3) The traffic I was following was travelling at a variable rate, and I was trying to adjust accordingly to keep safe distance between me and the vehicle in front.

4) In order to match my speed the officer's speed was variable

Therefore he could not have possibly made an accurate assessment of my speed in any case.

As the vehicle in front of me approached a slower vehicle he slowed down, and consequently so did I as the officer put his blinkers on(even the slowed down speed was approximately 115km/h).

When I saw his blinkers, at first I thought the officer had just gotten a call, I didn't even think then he was pulling me over, since I was just following the flow of traffic, so noticing he had a call, I did the approriate action and merged into the middle lane so the officer could pass me.

Only when the officer had merged into my lane behind me(center lane), had I noticed he was pulling me over. So I therefore merged into the right hand lane. I had decided not to pull over to shoulder immediately due to me finding it not safe. You always see those videos of cops pulling over people on the side of the freeway and a car crashing into them etc... so I kept my right signal on while in the right hand lane to tell the officer that I was complying(reading the site, I should have legally used my 4-ways), and I got off at the next interchange(Park Road, in Oshawa), and pulled over on the side of the off ramp. Where we would be much more safe.

The officer had approached me, and he wasn't an *EDIT* to me, he was proper. He however did state that I was going 123km/h in a 100km/h zone, yet on my ticket it states 122km/h. Also the officer mentioned on multiple occasions that he pulled me over as an example to show other motorists that you cannot pass a cop(which was already going 110km/h as he stated), going 120km/h and if he did, then he would just be telling motorists that it was alright to pass him. I also got a blurb that he could stop me for anything over 110km/h if he wanted to. So basically he stopped me to show others as an example.

In this whole incident, I only realized afterwards that one of my assumptions may have been incorrect. It is possible that the person in front of me never passed the officer, since there is an OPP station right before Brock street in Whitby, with it's own ramp onto the 401 east bound, and he could have come from there and merged into the center lane after the vehicle in front of me had passed him, and therefore I was the first person to pass the officer.

Also my speeding ticket for 22km/h over the speed limit is 85.50$ with Total Payable at 107.50$. According to both figures on the Traffic Combat website this value is incorrect.

I am 24 yrs old going to university, paying my own way through.

I was on my way from St. Catharines(I go to Brock University), towards Cornwall(my hometown) for the easter long weekend to visit family. My driving record up to now is perfectly clean, 0 tickets and 0 accidents on my record. Actually this is the first time I ever get pulled over for anything. On top of that my 21 year old brother has 0 accidents, and both my parents each have 0 accidents for which they have been at fault, and my dad is and has been a truck driver for 35 years. So I am a safe driver coming from a family of safe drivers.

Since the 401 in the GTA is the world's busiest highway and there are accidents on it daily, there are a few things I usually do to reduce my chances to get into an accident.

1) I only merge ONCE getting onto the highway and safely move over to the left most express lane. I do this to reduce the number of merges, since merging increases the likelihood of an accident

2) I stay in the left most lane, since it is the safest lane.... why?

a) You only have traffic in the lane to the right side and your lane, nobody to the left, therefore I have reduced the number of vehicles around me by at least 30%.

b) People can only merged to your lane coming from the right hand side, and not both sides, therefore deceasing merging by 50%.

c) If traffic comes to a halt abruptly and the person behind me is going to run into me, I have the option of pulling over to the left shoulder for safety, while this option is not available for center lanes.

3) Do not use cruise control, since the speed of traffic is variable and you never know when traffic will, halt so keeping your feet active on the petals increases your reaction time, incase a halt happens.

So in order to reduce accidents through this busy part of the highway, my policy has been to merge once into the left most lane once, and stay there following the speed of traffic until I pass the metropolitan area, then usually as I enter Clarington, I will merge back to the center lane, reduce my speed to around 110km/h, and put my cruise on for my journey to Cornwall ON.

In the GTA I don't feel safe at a slower speed and being in the center lane with traffic going all around you. I remember my cousin saying when he got his license in the York Region that the driving instructor told him to follow the speed of traffic, and that following the speed limit(100km/h) was more dangerous than following the flow of traffic.

This has worked for me for the passed 3 years of constantly driving this highway every long weekend, and have passed hundreds of cops without consequence until now.

I have not answered my ticket yet, since I can't mail it in, I'll have to go in person next week to say I want option 3 myself, and fight this?

My question to you guys are:

1) Do I have a chance at fighting this incident?

2) What would you add to any of my points to make them more credible and/or are they credible?

3) Any help on how I should proceed with this, especially from TicketCombat, would be nice.

4) Discussion on this issue is welcomed! Should someone following the speed of traffic like me have been pulled over for this offense?

Thank you for your answers

Absolutely fight this this charge is bazarr.

Does anyone remember that teacher Gord Thompson or something.

He got a ticket for 118 km/hr on the 401.

He went to court the Judge said he was breaking the limit by going even 1 km/hr faster.

I suggest this and other people start doing it.

Go on our major highways get a few people and go EXACTLY 100 km/hr.

Put a big sign on your car called the limit is 100.

Get the attention of the media. Maybee you'll be on global news.

And bookm can come with his magical beef jerky

Maybee next time i get a ticket for doing this i may try it.

Nothing bothers me more.

Again what limit are you supposed to drive in this province.

Some cops even go more than 120 all the time.

120 sometimes you cant even keep up with the flow of traffic.

The OPP have been banging that speed kills drum for to long now.

I thought the goal of Traffic Enforcement was lane discipline and to keep most of the vehicles traveling around the same speed in an orderly fashion (lane discipline)

Driving at 100 in most places is dangerous. Everyone tries to race around you, tailgate you, etc.

tdrive2 - how I appreciate some of the points you raise, however there are too many variables that are never touched on and raising speed would be devastating.

I would fully support a speed raise if the following were met:

- advanced driver training with a new class of licence required to be on the 400 series hwy

- mandatory medicals every year

- mandatory vehicle safety every year

- minimum 5ys driving experience to go to advanced course

- vehicles equipped with minimum following distance sensors in correlation to the speed being travelled

We have seen many a driver that would not even come close to meeting these standards, yet are on the roads with us. It is probably also shocking to see that about 50% of the drivers I stop are novice drivers and repeat offenders.

Any help concerning my situation hwybear?

I mean if everybody was doing 100, I would too, but it just isn't reality.

Also what should I have done differently in this situation?

I could not merge into the center lane and slow down, slowing down in my lane would cause danger from being rear ended and impede the flow of traffic in the lane, I did not increase my speed. I was aware of everything around me as shown from my statements above.

For the future, I just don't know what to do... I've tried 100 km/h, but you have cars all around you zooming by and tailgating as tdrive2 states. I have probably the best system to minimize getting into an accident going through the Toronto area, and I still get a ticket.

Also I agree with you hwybear to a point. People should have more driver training. I mean just look at Canada's Worst Driver, and those people are actually on the road and have a license .

I personally think everybody should have to go through an Advanced Driver course as part of their G2, and it should be tested to get your G license. You should have to be tested on controlling your vehicle in all situations, like they do on Canada's Worst Driver. Test, turning on ice, towing a boat, being able to keep a vehicle straight in a narrow road, etc...

Also those sensors for safe distance would be nice. They would have to be calibrated however for what type of vehicle is infront of you, since a safe distance behind a car is not the same as a safe distance behind a transport. But if they work, then sweet, give me one

In a way I agree with both of you guys. However, I see a bigger problem in the ME ME ME culture that killed both signalling and lane discipline on our roads. We'll save a lot more lives if we focus our enforcement efforts on people who:

1) Signal never/during/after making the turn/lane change instead of before+during.

2) Left lane bandits

3) People who leave mounds of snow on their vehicles. I don't care that you're 99 years old, 5'3 and drive a lifted F150 with a cap. It's your vehicle, your responsibility to keep it safe and not to have that *EDIT* flying into my windshield!!!!

Bear - agreed on all counts but the sensor. The advanced driver training should be enough, and I don't want to pay extra for my car because others can't drive. An additional point should be to have zero tolerance enforcement for all parts of the HTA, not just speeding. Adopt ECE speedometer standards so that under-reporting is not allowed; no need for a 'grace zone' for the shiny new limits.

401Driver, I don't know how to approach your ticket in court, but a few things about your post - your post makes it sound like you want to drive slower, but feel that 100 km/h is too dangerous within Toronto. Why not follow the speed of traffic in the right hand lane instead of the left hand lane? What do you do when the left lane speeds up to 140 km/h? Do you keep at 120 km/h, or do you move over and let other vehicles pass?

You also mention setting your cruise at 110 km/h in the centre lane. The centre lane is still a passing lane, so you should be in the right hand lane when not driving with the flow of traffic. In the last three years I have clocked around 20,000 km at or below the speed limit, maybe a third of that in the GTA. I have never felt unsafe on the 401 in Toronto, at least not due to my speed being too slow. I do get nervous around on-ramps because 100 km/h is sometimes too fast for those who don't know how to merge.

Squishy wrote:Bear - agreed on all counts but the sensor. The advanced driver training should be enough, and I don't want to pay extra for my car because others can't drive. An additional point should be to have zero tolerance enforcement for all parts of the HTA, not just speeding. Adopt ECE speedometer standards so that under-reporting is not allowed; no need for a 'grace zone' for the shiny new limits.

401Driver, I don't know how to approach your ticket in court, but a few things about your post - your post makes it sound like you want to drive slower, but feel that 100 km/h is too dangerous within Toronto. Why not follow the speed of traffic in the right hand lane instead of the left hand lane? What do you do when the left lane speeds up to 140 km/h? Do you keep at 120 km/h, or do you move over and let other vehicles pass?

You also mention setting your cruise at 110 km/h in the centre lane. The centre lane is still a passing lane, so you should be in the right hand lane when not driving with the flow of traffic. In the last three years I have clocked around 20,000 km at or below the speed limit, maybe a third of that in the GTA. I have never felt unsafe on the 401 in Toronto, at least not due to my speed being too slow. I do get nervous around on-ramps because 100 km/h is sometimes too fast for those who don't know how to merge.

Well, firstly I have thought of the right hand lane. But the problem with the right hand lane is you will be constantly merging at most interchanges. Since if you see traffic in the acceleration lane of an interchange and you are in the right hand lane, and the lane to the left of you is free, you should merge to that lane to allow the person to come into the right hand lane from the on ramp, then merge back when safe.

This drastically increases the number of merges you do, compared to my single merge. And I remember hearing that most accidents are caused when merging, perhaps since people don't do it properly or signal. It is less for me than others, but the left lane drastically reduces and minimizes your number of merges. That is why I rather the left lane to the right lane. Also in the right lane you have to be aware of the people going off and on interchanges, your lane, and the lanes to the left of you, hense you have more people to keep track of than me in that left lane.

When the speed of the left lane increases... well it depends by how much... and how many people are doing it. If there is a person behind me approaching at a high speed, and the person or persons in front of me in that left lane are all going 120, and this guy behind me is going 140, I will just stay in the lane. No point to merge over to let them pass so they can go another 100 meters.

As for the entire lane in front of me going 130 to 140. Not too sure it hasn't happened to me too often that it has been above 130. I remember the one time still following it, looking as far forward was going 135 and as far back as I could see doing 135, the right lanes were also going fast that day at I'd say 120 to 130. In that case I stayed in the left lane and followed the flow, even though I noticed at those higher speeds some turns in the highway aren't really made for them. On another occasion, if there is only a few cars behind me, I may just merge right and let them by then merge back left after they have passed me. Then set my own speed if nobody is behind me. If nobody is ahead of the highway is more empty(which isn't often) then I will merge to the centre and keep the cruise at a lower speed.

As for the centre lane thing. According to those driving books you look at to take your driving test(G1), the correct lane to be in when the highway is 3 lanes wide or wider is the centre lane, and NOT the right hand lane. Therefore I am in the correct lane in the Clarington area, where there is 3 lanes. When 2 lanes it is the right hand lane.

Unless that is off of driving tests and the driver handbook. But I remember that statement in those driver handbooks and on the G1 test, since I figured it to be weird that it was not the right hand lane.

I guess the philosophy behind it, is it gives the opportunity for people who are going faster to pass you on the right and left instead of just the left. Who knows.

So, make as many notes as you can and write them down....... you don't seem to a problem there.....those sure are long posts... .....If pictures will help you take some from a safe point.

The last ticket I got the officer mentioned that I was "noticably faster then the flow", so I see your point of view, is the limit a number or flow?? Don't forget TC's site and follow through on his(?) points.....you will find your defense if you look for it. Good luck and 122 on 4-series highways in the GTA is not speeding

401Driver wrote:Well, firstly I have thought of the right hand lane. But the problem with the right hand lane is you will be constantly merging at most interchanges. Since if you see traffic in the acceleration lane of an interchange and you are in the right hand lane, and the lane to the left of you is free, you should merge to that lane to allow the person to come into the right hand lane from the on ramp, then merge back when safe.

It is the responsibility of merging traffic to find a spot to merge in. You don't have to change lanes as long as you leave enough room ahead of you for the merging vehicle.

401Driver wrote:Also in the right lane you have to be aware of the people going off and on interchanges, your lane, and the lanes to the left of you, hense you have more people to keep track of than me in that left lane.

Well, that's just a basic part of driving.

401Driver wrote:As for the centre lane thing. According to those driving books you look at to take your driving test(G1), the correct lane to be in when the highway is 3 lanes wide or wider is the centre lane, and NOT the right hand lane. Therefore I am in the correct lane in the Clarington area, where there is 3 lanes. When 2 lanes it is the right hand lane.

Unless that is off of driving tests and the driver handbook. But I remember that statement in those driver handbooks and on the G1 test, since I figured it to be weird that it was not the right hand lane.

When did you take your test? I don't remember reading anything like that when I read the handbook in 2002. Maybe it used to be there; I guess that would explain why some instructors insist on teaching that "stay in the centre" philosophy. The MTO Online Driver's Handbook has the proper rule:

Once on the freeway, ... traffic should keep to the right, using the left lanes for passing.

...

Use the far left lane of a multi-lane freeway to pass traffic moving slower than the speed limit, but don't stay there. Drive in the right-hand lane when possible. On many freeways with three or more lanes in each direction, large trucks cannot travel in the far left lane and must use the lane to the right for passing. Get into the habit of driving in the right lane, leaving the other lanes clear for passing.

I know it is the responsibility of merging traffic to find a place to merge in. But as a courtesy if you can merge over to let them merge in, if it is safe, then it is advised to do so. Truck drivers do it all the time. Remember my dad is a truck driver, I have learned these sort of things.

If you see a person who will be merging, and you think you will be at the same place as him as he wants to merge in, if you can merge to the lane to the left, so he can then merge onto the highway safely. Instead of staying in the right lane no matter what, and making him slow down or speed up to merge on.

It is more of a courtesy, you see truckers do it all the time.

Also as a courtesy, I will flash my high beems at night, when/if a transport has safely passed me in order to tell him it is safe to merge back in my lane. As well as flashing my 4 way's to a trucker behind me to say thank you.

To the second part, I know it is a basic part of driving, but the less traffic you have to keep track of the less people can be involved in an accident. Remember I am just trying to minimize the traffic around me, so I can minimize what can happen. In all cases you have to know what is going on around you at all times. As you can see from my incident from the officer I knew what was beside me, in front of me, and behind me. Some people don't even use mirrors.

I took my test in 2001, but early on, so the 2000 book. I did remember it to be an odd rule, it may have changed or had been outdated rule.

If the MTO says stay in the right hand lane, which makes more sense than the centre, I will start doing that from now on in 3 lane or more, instead of centre.

As I said, I always found that rule weird.

Well Squishy when you said if the flow of traffic gets up to 140 in the left lane you just move over to the right.....

This has happened to me i am only going to go a speed i feel appropriate i have no problem lettings others pass.

I always lead by example as soon as i pass i move over.

Then some of those parked in the left lane go ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh i am getting pass i should move over.

Bear okay about the cars traveling close.

Do you think they would travel so close perhaps if something was not infront of them.

If they had higher limits and did not have to be slowed down by people refusing to move over they would not travel so close.

Mind you we need an extra lane in many places it can just not handle all the cars anymore on the big 400's.

And now i wonder after what all have you said. And now the 105 limit on trucks is gonna help. Ya right maybee if you force them on the right lane.

If the flow is at 130 and you stick some object in the centre lane at 105.

You have a problem. What will happen is all those in the left lane around 115 will now have to go to the left most lane behind the ones all going 120 +

There is traveling to close for ya.

I seriously want to know why people can not move over. It is just a polite thing to do. It has always puzzled me. The road is wide open tons of room why must you park in the left?

if your scanning your mirrors there is no excuse just move over.

And if your on a cell phone you should certainly be in the right lane.

Anyways i am convinced its messing with the flow of traffic that is our real problem.

Speed limits set way below the 85 % percentile, limiting trucks to 105, no enforcement what so ever from the OPP on lane discipline, no enforced move to the right laws ever, and to few lanes are always gonna yield the same results.

For those that say they never see aggressive or fast drivers i am not sure where you go. I have been on the 400 a few times and seen wild speed. I rarely go on the 407 but that place is nuts they get packs of cars going over 150 all the time.

Anyways i think speed is irrelevant to a degree if you follow lane discipline.

I mean for those that ask what do you do when they go 140 in the left lane. Well you move over to let them pass.

How do they do it on the autobahn and live to tell the tale?

And it would be one thing to raise the limit on the 401 throughout Toronto. Actually i think that should not be touched sometimes.

but outside Toronto it needs to be changed.

It's a pitty i have never seen an OPP officer looking for those trucks that camp in the middle lane or those that purposely clog the left lane. I do see them check for speed but i usually do not see this. I mean i can't read minds but judging Ontario drivers this is what goes.

Everyman for himself, no matter what you do, rain and storms is a good time to speed cause you have less chance of getting caught, i can do anything i want as long as i don't speed.

We focus way to much on speed in this province. People should realize that speed is not such an enemy and there is other things causing problems on our roads and highways.

Anything goes here, in Ontario no one cares about lane discipline, being decent and courteous to other drives, common sense, paying ATTENTION.

I never see the OPP address this on TV. All i see is Julian Fantino and Cam wooley telling us if we go 150 we face big time fines and they will take our cars.

How about next time they remind us about maintain a safe distance, lane discipline, and paying attention to the road.

I cant wait to see a big blue sign with yellow writing next time i enter a 400 series.

"Impeding the flow of traffic, not paying attention, talking on a cell phone while in the left lane, blocking other traffic from passing, driving in a passing lane, 10 000 $ fine, road side suspension."

Im sorry for ranting on this again. But it just makes me more mad every time i enter the highway i see our own cops also exceeding the speed limits but then they charge you a few hundred dollars for going with the flow of traffic and doing the same thing they just did, what gives?

Bear your an officer.

You may not agree but lets say the limit where you were was 115-130.

Wouldn't that give you more time to focus on the really fast, really slow drivers, and perhaps other things. Then maybee more would drive closer to the speed limit and you and other officers could maybe spend more time on lane discipline, unsafe and aggressive transports, etc.

Can you ask why they got rid of all those signs that use to say move right except to pass.

I mean if the limit was 120 then 50 over would be 170. If u wanna look for street racers that sounds more like it. They're wont be many people with basic R rated tires and a 4 cylinder engine going 170.

I mean they wanna get street racers so they pull over family's going in their minivans at 150.

What about those ones that go 175 + on the 400. These do exist you always see them on long weekends there.

Maybe a higher limit would also get those off the 400's that do not belong.

I mean some older people get on and don't want to even go 80.

Im sorry but these people are dangerous. They may not be going fast but they cause problems on the road for others. They should not be on the 401 perhaps, and taking smaller slower highways with speed limits of 80 km/hr.

I think the OPP seem to miss alot and forget alot of other things cause they are so focused on speed.

hwybear this is off topic what do you guys do with sleepy or tired truckers or ones with unsafe loads. I have seen some truckers late at night and they are really sleepy and wandering across lanes, etc. I have even seen some trucks with unsecure loads. Once i saw a huge truck with a bunch of scrap metal that was not secure properly at all. You could see some sway in the wind.

Is the best option with something like this to dial *OPP?

The OHTA says no commercial vehicles in the left lane. Does this include Greyhound buses.?

These guys are really ignorant sometimes. They're is some sleepy trucker going 100 in the middle lane so they take they're bus in the far left lane going 110 and then everyone has to slam on their brakes while they wait for this bus to pass at a snail's pace.

tdrive2 wrote:I mean if the limit was 120 then 50 over would be 170. If u wanna look for street racers that sounds more like it. They're wont be many people with basic R rated tires and a 4 cylinder engine going 170.

Won't see many people with V6's either. Gas costs start to pinch in quite heavily after 120-130 on most vehicles.

tdrive2 wrote:I mean some older people get on and don't want to even go 80.

There should be a sign that states a minimum speed as well on the King's Highways.

I do not disagree with most of what you are saying. But sometimes the Greyhound bus has to deal with those doing 80 in the right lane, and the middle lane being jammed by those who want to do 99 km/hr. Can you blame the bus driver for trying to take the load of 55 angry passengers to wherever they want to go on time?

No i cant blame the driver but then all the people that were going 130 before they just will race around them on the right and cut back over.

This is what people who do this forget. They make it dangerous for everyone. If you clog the road and stop people from passing they have to pass on the right and race around you which is way more dangerous!

Well first of all about truckers, since my father is one I can say a few comments.

Yes my dad has been pulled over so the officer could inspect his druck. Actually if the officer passes my dad's truck, my dad gets an additional 100$ from his work for doing so.

Lots of officers in the Eastern Ontario region are aware of this ROFF Logistics policy. And they like it, it encourages their drivers to make sure their load is safe, and they properly do their safety checks, and encourage the police to check them so they can make more money.

As well my fathers work, also pays each trucker 1$/hour more than their salary, if they have not gotten into an accident for which they are at fault or any infraction including speeding. If my dad were to cause an accident, he would lose that 1$/hour for the following year, therefore losing money in his pay. This increases safe driving philosophy of the company.

Next, PAY BY THE HOUR!!!! Lots of truck companies pay by the km. If you pay by the hour, then the trucker will go 100km/h, since well he gets paid the same no matter what speed he goes, so why go faster.

The places that pay by the km, I find should be made illegal in the province. Since it encourages truckers to speed. Since if they speed they are getting paid more.

Then there is the whole issue of companies with GPSs on their trucks, and won't allow their truckers to go to the washroom or eat without docking their pay, or the companies which give unreasonable timetables to drivers, and force them to use 2 driving logs(illegal) to extend pass the 14 hour maximum daily driving. And they wonder why there are speeding transports and sleepy drivers on the road.

I am lucky that my father is currently with a company which has policies which encourage safe driving and encourage their employees to do their safety checks on their trucks. Unlike some companies which are rush rush.

So in the end it isn't always the trucker's fault but company policies. But also there are the truckers who want the 60 hour weeks, etc...