Nextlaw - Ontario's Stunt Driving, DUI & U.S. Waiver Law Firm

Is it worth fighting a speeding ticket in Ontario? For most people, yes — and more than it was a few years ago. According to NextLaw Analysis of Ontario Court of Justice data, Ontario's courts now withdraw about four and a half times more speeding charges than they did before the pandemic — climbing from roughly 2 in 100 to about 1 in 9 — and a growing share of tickets are being pushed all the way to a trial date. That is a rate across every charge the courts processed, not a prediction for your specific ticket, but the direction is real. Here is the part that matters most: you don't get a speeding charge withdrawn or dismissed by paying it, and rarely by winning a dramatic courtroom argument. You get there by responding within 15 days, asking for a trial instead of paying the fine, requesting the prosecution's evidence, and using the gaps in it to negotiate a withdrawal or a reduction. And the reason to bother isn't the fine — the fine is the small part. A conviction i...

By Jon Cohen, Partner at NextLaw — Ontario's stunt driving defence firm Yes — for a stunt driving charge in Ontario you should have a lawyer, and the worry that a busy firm won't give your case personal attention doesn't match how these cases actually work. A stunt driving charge under section 172 of the Highway Traffic Act is resolved in a private, one-on-one conversation with the prosecutor about your file, and only your file. Cases are never bundled together in that discussion — so whether a firm is handling one file or a thousand, in that room it is only your case, with its complete attention. Individual attention isn't a favour a firm does you; on a stunt driving charge, it's built into how the case is resolved. If you or your son or daughter has been charged, the fear is real and immediate: a licence suspended on the spot, a car towed away, and penalties that read like a criminal sentence. It's natural to look at a firm that handles a high volume of these ...

No. Raising the highway speed limit to 110 km/h does not give drivers more room before a stunt driving charge. Under section 172 of Ontario's Highway Traffic Act, driving 150 km/h or more is stunt driving anywhere in the province, no matter the posted limit — so on a road posted at 110, you can be charged with stunt driving at just 40 km/h over. The other trigger, 50 km/h or more over the limit, still applies too (that's 160 on a 110 highway) — but the absolute 150 km/h line hits first. And a stunt charge lands on your licence and your vehicle at the roadside, before you ever see a courtroom. Ontario is now expanding 110 km/h limits permanently across a growing list of provincial highways through 2026 — including stretches of Highways 401, 400, 402, 403, 404, 416, 417 and the QEW. More 110 km/h roads means more drivers exposed to a threshold most people misunderstand. Here's exactly how it works. What speed is stunt driving on a 110 km/h highway in Ontario? Ontario has thre...

Written by Jon Cohen, Partner at NextLaw · Licensed by the Law Society of Ontario · Published August 19, 2026 · Last updated August 19, 2026 Ontario, Canada. Current as of August 2026. General information about how speeding convictions and car insurance work in Ontario — not legal advice for your specific ticket. The short answer Insurers price from the conviction, not the ticket or your demerit points, and it could last about three years (up to six if serious). Source: NextLaw Analysis of Ontario insurance-rating practice. In Ontario, a speeding ticket affects your car insurance only if it becomes a conviction — and it is the conviction, not the ticket or your demerit points, that insurers actually rate. A conviction stays on the record insurers price from for three years (up to six for the most serious offences), and it can be re-rated at every renewal in that window. Because of that, a single conviction could cost far more over three years than the fine itself — anywhere from a few ...

Written by Jon Cohen, Partner at NextLaw · Published August 17, 2026 · Last updated August 17, 2026 · Applies to Ontario, Canada (Toronto focus). Ontario speeding law and Ontario Court of Justice figures are current as of August 2026. If you got a speeding ticket in Toronto, don't just pay it. In Toronto, fighting a speeding ticket may be more worth it than almost anywhere else in Ontario. According to NextLaw Analysis of Ontario Court of Justice, Provincial Offences Court Statistics (FY2026), Toronto withdrew about half of the speeding charges it resolved, while some other Ontario courts withdrew fewer than 1 in 100. Where your ticket is prosecuted may matter as much as how fast you were going. That isn't a prediction about your specific ticket. But it is exactly why the first move is rarely to just pay it — paying a speeding ticket the day it arrives is a guilty plea, and it closes every door before you have looked through any of them. Source: Ontario Court of Justice, Provin...

Written by Jon Cohen, Partner at NextLaw · Published August 17, 2026 · Last updated August 17, 2026 · Applies to Ontario, Canada (Toronto focus). Ontario speeding law and Ontario Court of Justice figures are current as of August 2026. If you got a speeding ticket in Toronto, don't just pay it. In Toronto, fighting a speeding ticket may be more worth it than almost anywhere else in Ontario. According to NextLaw Analysis of Ontario Court of Justice, Provincial Offences Court Statistics (FY2026), Toronto withdrew about half of the speeding charges it resolved, while some other Ontario courts withdrew fewer than 1 in 100. Where your ticket is prosecuted may matter as much as how fast you were going. That isn't a prediction about your specific ticket. But it is exactly why the first move is rarely to just pay it — paying a speeding ticket the day it arrives is a guilty plea, and it closes every door before you have looked through any of them. Source: Ontario Court of Justice, Provin...