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Most Canadians believe speeding tickets should be tied to income: poll

Traffic is detoured off of highway 40 eastbound in Vaudreuil-Dorion, west of Montreal as the Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge on Highway 40 remains closed, in Montreal, Friday, May 21, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter McCabe Traffic is detoured off of highway 40 eastbound in Vaudreuil-Dorion, west of Montreal as the Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge on Highway 40 remains closed, in Montreal, Friday, May 21, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter McCabe
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A new survey conducted by Research Co. found that the majority of Canadians support tying speeding ticket fines to income, otherwise known as “progressive punishment.”

According to the survey published on Friday, 65 per cent of Canadians surveyed endorse implementing progressive punishment for speeding tickets in their city. In addition, 24 per cent of respondents opposed the concept while 11 per cent are undecided.

Progressive punishment system has been implemented in some European countries such as Finland and Switzerland. Authorities in Finland set the fines on the basis of disposable income of the offending driver and how much speed the offending driver went over the posted limit.

Breaking down the data based on region, B.C. and Quebec residents are most likely supporting the progressive punishment for speeding tickets (69 per cent) while 63 per cent of people in Ontario are in favour of the system.

Support for the proposal is lower in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (62 per cent), Atlantic Canada (60 per cent) and Alberta (59 per cent).

“Canadians in the highest income bracket are decidedly more dissatisfied with the concept of progressive punishment for speeding tickets,” Research Co. president Mario Canseco said in a news release. “Opposition to this course of action among Canadians who live in households earning more than $100,000 a year reaches 34 per cent, 10 points higher than the national average.”

There have been discussions about implementing a progressive punishment system for traffic tickets in some municipalities, such as Saanich, B.C., based on the disposable income of the offending driver and how many days the fine has gone unpaid.

In addition to speeding tickets, more than half of Canadian respondents (58 per cent) said they would support implementing the progressive punishment system for unpaid parking tickets issued by their city or town, while 31 per cent are opposed and 11 per cent are undecided.

METHODOLOGY

The results are based on an online survey conducted from March 18 to March 20, 2023, among 1,000 Canadian adults. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

 

Reporting for this story was paid for through The Afghan Journalists in Residence Project funded by Meta.

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