FREDERICTON (GNB) – New legislation intended to improve road safety will come into force in the province on Jan. 1, 2021.

The amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act include:

  • increasing fines for distracted driving;
  • extending Move Over, Slow Down provisions to tow trucks, highway maintenance vehicles and private and public utility vehicles that have their flashing lights engaged;
  • setting the maximum speed for Move Over, Slow Down to half the posted speed limit;
  • doubling the fine to $280, and increasing the demerit points, to five, for drivers convicted of distracted driving;
  • doubling the fines to $480 and the demerit points to six for drivers who pass a school bus while its flashing red lights are engaged;
  • allowing prosecution of the registered owner or lessee of a vehicle for passing a stopped school bus unless that person can establish that someone else was operating the motor vehicle; and
  • clarifying how suspensions related to drug-recognition evaluations will be imposed and allowing police officers to impose zero-tolerance provisions on novice drivers following a standard field sobriety test.

“Any case of death or injury due to distracted driving is one too many,” said Justice and Public Safety Minister Hugh J. Flemming. “Everyone needs to do their part to improve safety on our roads.”

The legislation, introduced in 2019, received royal assent in March 2020.

 

 

15-12-20