Finding out that you’ve incurred a speed camera ticket fine can be worrying, especially if you’re trying to keep a clean driving record for optimal insurance premiums. With speed cameras installed all over Ontario, it’s fair to wonder whether or not your insurance rates will be affected by a speed camera ticket.
Speed camera tickets are an inconvenience that many Ontario drivers have to deal with, but they’re not a huge problem if paid immediately. How much can speed camera ticket fines run? What are the consequences of not paying for speed camera tickets? Do speed camera tickets raise your insurance rates? Read on to find out more about speed camera tickets and what to do if you get one.
What to Know About Speed Camera Tickets in Ontario
Speed cameras were installed all throughout Ontario in 2020 as part of the Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) system. If you see a gray box on top of a tall pole on a street corner, you’re probably looking at a speed camera. These are usually placed near school zones, community safety zones, and other high-risk areas where drivers are meant to slow down and exercise caution.
Speed camera traps are meant to punish drivers who speed in places where a pedestrian collision is more likely. These traps have been very effective, dispensing over 560,000 tickets within the first two years of their installation. When a speeding vehicle is detected by the camera, it captures the following information about the car in question:
- The vehicle’s speed
- The vehicle’s make and model
- The vehicle’s license plate number
- The date and time the speeding incident occurred
- The direction that the vehicle was travelling
Once a speed camera records a speeding vehicle’s information, it sends it to a provincial offences officer who examines the photo and ticket. The officer then mails a copy of the ticket and photo to the car owner’s registered address. You could end up in a lot of trouble if you fail to receive the mail and pay the fine, so it’s important to keep your address updated.
Do Speed Camera Tickets Affect Insurance?
No, speed camera tickets don’t affect your insurance rates. Since the cameras don’t record who is driving the vehicle at the time of the speeding violation, your driving record isn’t affected by any speed camera tickets you may receive. Because you don’t get any demerit points by getting a speed camera ticket, your insurance premiums won’t rise if you do happen to get one. However, you may suffer other consequences if you don’t pay the fine for the speeding camera ticket.
Fines and Penalties for Speed Camera Tickets
If you receive a speed camera ticket, you may not get a mark on your driving record, but you will need to pay a fine for speeding. Ontario speed camera ticket fines are dependent on how much over the speed limit you were going at the time of the incident. Here’s a list of the fines and penalties you’ll need to pay according to Ontario’s Highway and Traffic Act:
| Speed | Ticket Fine |
|---|---|
| 1-19 km/h over the speed limit | $5.00 per km |
| 20-29 km/h over the speed limit | $7.50 per km |
| 30-39 km/h over the speed limit | $12.00 per km |
| 50km/h or more over the speed limit | Court settled |
Other than the cost of the ticket itself, you’ll need to pay a court fee of $5, and a victim surcharge fee, which is calculated based on the value of the ticket. This fee is added to certain fines to help aid victims of a crime. Here’s how much the victim surcharge fee is for each range of the ticket fine:
| Speeding ticket fine | Victim surcharge fee |
|---|---|
| $0-$50 | $10 |
| $51-$75 | $15 |
| $76-$100 | $20 |
| $101-$150 | $25 |
| $151-$200 | $35 |
| $201-$250 | $50 |
| $251-$300 | $60 |
| $301-$350 | $75 |
| $351-$400 | $85 |
| $401-$450 | $95 |
| $451-$500 | $110 |
| $501-$1000 | $125 |
| Over $1000 | 25% of base fine |
Putting these fees together, we can determine the total fine that you’ll need to pay. Suppose that you’re going 60km/hr in a 40km/hr zone. The base fine will cost $7.50 per km since you’re going 20km/hr over the limit, which comes out to $150. The victim surcharge fee of $15 is added to that, along with the court fee of $5, which brings the grand total to $170. With all of these fees combined, you can expect to pay a hefty fine if you get caught by a speed camera trap.
Difference Between Speed Camera Tickets and Regular Speeding Tickets
There are a few key differences between speed camera tickets and regular speeding tickets issued by a patrol officer. Speed cameras don’t record the driver of the vehicle, so these tickets won’t be recorded on your driving record. On the other hand, getting pulled over by a police officer for speeding will go down in your driving record as a traffic violation since the officer can positively identify who was driving the vehicle at the time of the speeding violation. This means that speed camera tickets won’t be considered by insurance companies when determining your rate, while regular speeding tickets will affect your insurance premiums.
What to Do When You Get a Speed Camera Ticket
When you get a speed camera ticket, you have 15 days to pay for the ticket before it gets added to your driving license. You have three options to consider at this point:
- Pay the fine, either online or in person.
- Request a trial and court date to plead not guilty.
- Request a trial and court date to plead guilty and enter a plea to extend your payment deadline.
The best option is to pay the Ontario speed camera fines immediately before the 15-day time allowance elapses. If you decide to fight the ticket in court, you may incur more costs and fines if you lose the battle. If you know that your vehicle has been caught speeding, there’s probably insurmountable photo evidence that this happened, making it a costly waste of time to plead not guilty.
If you don’t have the means to pay the fine before the deadline, you can plead guilty in court and ask for an extension on the payment deadline. This is a much better option than not paying the fee at all just because you don’t have the funds on hand.
What are the Consequences of Not Paying?
There are some heavy consequences if you decide not to pay your speeding ticket fine. Any and all unpaid fines will be added to your driving record, meaning that you’ll have to clear them during your license renewal before you’re allowed to renew your driver’s license. Failure to comply and pay the fines due can result in more penalties and even the loss of your driving privileges.
Since unpaid fines are recorded in your driving record, insurance companies will then consider that when calculating your auto insurance premiums, meaning higher rates for the next three years. The more unpaid tickets you have, the riskier of a driver you are, and the higher your insurance rates will go. Some insurance companies won’t even consider giving you a policy if you have too many unpaid speeding tickets.
Key Advice From MyChoice
- Speed camera traps are installed around high-risk areas in Ontario, such as school zones and community safety zones.
- Paying speeding fines immediately is the best option, but if you’re strapped for cash, you can plead guilty and ask for an extension of the payment deadline.
- Speed camera tickets won’t affect your insurance rates unless you let them go unpaid.