Bill 15 explained in plain English
Fairness for Road Users Act (Contraventions Causing Death or Serious Bodily Harm), 2023
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 43rd Parliament, 1st 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 15 amends the Highway Traffic Act to create a new offence for causing death or serious bodily harm in an accident while breaking traffic laws, with penalties up to $50,000 in fines and two years imprisonment.
Bill 15 adds a new criminal offence to Ontario's Highway Traffic Act. The law targets drivers who cause or contribute to accidents that result in death or serious bodily harm while at the same time breaking the Highway Traffic Act or its regulations. For example, if a driver runs a red light and causes an accident that kills or seriously injures someone, they could be charged under this new offence. Courts can sentence someone found guilty to a fine between $2,000 and $50,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or both. Courts can also suspend the person's driver's licence or permit for up to five years.
- Creates a new offence in Part X.0.1 of the Highway Traffic Act (section 191.0.2)
- The offence applies when a person causes or contributes to causing an accident that results in death or serious bodily harm while contravening the Highway Traffic Act or its regulations
- Sets minimum fine at $2,000 and maximum fine at $50,000 for conviction
- Allows imprisonment for up to two years for conviction
- Allows courts to suspend driver's licence or permit for up to five years
- Comes into force upon Royal Assent
- Drivers who cause or contribute to accidents resulting in death or serious bodily harm while breaking traffic laws
- Courts that hear charges under this new offence
- Police and law enforcement who may investigate and charge offences under this section
- Drivers must avoid contravening the Highway Traffic Act or regulations while operating vehicles, as breach combined with causing death or serious bodily harm creates this new offence
- Courts have the power to impose fines between $2,000 and $50,000 upon conviction
- Courts have the power to impose imprisonment up to two years upon conviction
- Courts have the power to suspend a driver's licence or permit for up to five years
- Bill came into force upon Royal Assent (date of Royal Assent not specified in provided text)
- Convicted persons may face fines between $2,000 and $50,000
- Fine: minimum $2,000, maximum $50,000
- Imprisonment: up to two years
- Driver's licence or permit suspension: up to five years
- Both fine and imprisonment may be imposed together
- The bill does not define what constitutes 'serious bodily harm'—this may be defined elsewhere in Ontario law or by court interpretation
- The bill does not clarify whether 'contributes to causing' requires direct action or if negligence alone is sufficient
- The bill does not specify what types of Highway Traffic Act contraventions trigger this offence; any contravention appears to qualify
- The bill text does not indicate whether this offence replaces, supplements, or coexists with other criminal offences related to dangerous driving or careless driving
- No date of Royal Assent is provided in the text
A new Part X.0.1 is added to create an offence for causing death or serious bodily harm in an accident while contravening the Act or regulations
Source: Section 1
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