MTO opens public comment period on Bill 41

TORONTO — Still want to get your two cents in on Ontario’s contentious Bill 41? Now that the so-called Speed Limiter Bill received Royal Assent on June 18, following single day of committee hearings on June 5, the Ministry of Transportation wants your input on how the law could be implemented and enforced.

Bill 41 requires that all commercial motor vehicles manufactured after 1995, with a manufacturer’s gross weight rating of 11,794 kg or more, have and use a speed limiter set to no more than 105 km/h. While that may seem a straight forward mandate for the Ministry to follow, recently released research conducted for Transport Canada has raised concerns about the safety implications of limiting trucks speeds under certain traffic conditions, among others.

Studies on trade and competitiveness, technical implications, and previous experience in other parts of the world raised questions about the effectiveness of the regulation as well as the difficulties of implementing and enforcing the rule. A study on the potential Environmental benefits pointed to a 1.4 percent reduction in overall diesel fuel consumption in Canada if truck speeds across the country were limited to 105 km/h.

Comments should be filed electronically through the Ontario Regulatory Registry website. The comment period closes August 31, 2008.

Further Information on the comment period is available from MTO’s Carrier Safety and Enforcement Branch.

Carrier Safety and Enforcement Branch
3rd Floor, 301 St. Paul Street
St. Catharines, Ontario
L2R 7R4