Bill 158 explained in plain English
Protecting Vulnerable Road Users Act, 2017
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill 158, the Protecting Vulnerable Road Users Act, 2017, introduces new penalties for drivers whose actions cause death or serious injury to vulnerable road users due to traffic law violations.
This bill, called the Protecting Vulnerable Road Users Act, 2017, proposes changes to the Highway Traffic Act in Ontario. It aims to create new legal consequences for drivers who cause death or serious bodily harm to certain vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists, and emergency responders, by breaking specific traffic rules. If convicted, a driver would face penalties related to the original traffic rule violation, a mandatory probation order with requirements like a driving course and community service, and a suspension of their driver's licence during probation. The bill also outlines procedures for charging and sentencing, and allows for victim impact statements to be considered.
- Creates a new offence for drivers who cause death or serious bodily harm to vulnerable road users by breaking certain traffic rules.
- Defines who is considered a vulnerable road user.
- Lists specific traffic rules that, if violated and leading to harm, trigger the new offence.
- Establishes penalties for the new offence, which include penalties for the original traffic rule violation and a mandatory probation order.
- Mandates that the probation order include a driving instruction course and community service focused on driving safety.
- Suspends the driver's licence of a convicted person for the duration of the probation order.
- Specifies that proceedings for this offence must be started by laying an information, not by filing a certificate of offence.
- Requires the defendant to attend sentencing hearings in person.
- Allows for victim impact statements to be considered during sentencing.
- Amends existing provisions in the Highway Traffic Act related to penalties and appeals to include the new offence.
- Drivers of motor vehicles
- Vulnerable road users (including pedestrians, cyclists, users of mobility devices, roadway workers, emergency responders on duty and outside their vehicles, and others prescribed by regulation)
- Courts and judicial officers
- Victims of offences under the new Part
- Drivers have an obligation not to cause or contribute to causing death or serious bodily harm to vulnerable road users by contravening listed traffic provisions.
- Drivers convicted of the offence are subject to mandatory probation, a driving course, community service, and licence suspension.
- Victims have the right to present victim impact statements during sentencing hearings.
- The court has the obligation to consider victim impact statements when determining penalties.
- The Act comes into force six months after receiving Royal Assent.
- Potential fines for breaching probation orders (up to $50,000).
- Costs associated with completing a driving instruction course.
- Costs related to community service (though the service itself is unpaid).
- Conviction of an offence under subsection 191.0.2 (1) leads to penalties equivalent to the original traffic provision contravened.
- A mandatory probation order of up to one year, including a driving instruction course and 50 to 200 hours of community service.
- Suspension of the driver's licence for the duration of the probation order.
- Penalties for breaching a probation order include a fine of up to $50,000 and possible licence suspension for up to two years.
- Proceedings must be commenced by laying an information, not by filing a certificate of offence.
- The bill does not specify the exact penalties for contravening each 'listed provision' of the Highway Traffic Act, only that the penalty for the new offence will be related to the penalty for the original provision.
- The bill allows for individuals to be 'prescribed by the regulations' to be considered vulnerable road users, meaning this category could be expanded in the future.
- The specific requirements for the driving instruction course are to be determined by regulations.
- The bill does not detail the penalties for the 'listed provisions' themselves, only how they relate to the new offence.
- The specific financial implications beyond potential fines and course costs are not detailed.
Adds a new Part (Part X.0.1) to create the offence of causing harm to vulnerable road users and outlines its consequences, including mandatory probation and licence suspension. It also amends other sections to include this new offence within existing penalty and procedural frameworks.
Source: Section 1, Section 2
Modifies procedures for commencing proceedings, setting conditions for probation orders, and handling breaches of probation orders in relation to the new offence created by Bill 158.
Source: Section 191.0.4, Section 191.0.5, Section 191.0.7, Section 191.0.8
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced