by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
May 10, 2004
On May 4, Ontario Minister of Transport, Harinder Takhar, introduced amendments to the Highway Traffic act. These amendments deal with three general areas--school buses, children’s car seats, and graduated licensing provisions. all these changes are intended to help protect children on Ontario’s roads. What the government is actually saying is that parents are not bright enough to protect their own kids so Uncle Dalty and the nanny state must do it. If the main objective was really the protection of children then the government would ban kids outright from being in vehicles. But there is always a trade-off to be made and the government is determined to legislate that trade-off.
One of the proposals is to increase penalties for those who do not stop for school buses when required to do so. according to Takhar, most school bus drivers report one incident a day of motorists who fail to stop for buses when those buses are picking up or letting off children. Now, people who simply ignore the flashing lights and stop signs on those buses do pose a danger to children and the government’s intention to increase the penalties cannot be faulted. But then the government turns around that says that if the driver of the offending vehicle cannot be ascertained, the owner will be hit with the penalty.
Declaring that this conduct must be treated as more serious, increasing the penalties and then going after the innocent owner is nothing more than a cash grab and does nothing to deter the actual driver who is indifferent to the safety of children. The Fathers of Confederation showed considerable insight when they gave jurisdiction over criminal law to the federal government--if Ontario had that power, they would prosecute a suspected murderer’s first-born if they couldn’t find the alleged murderer. This government has no shame--paralyzed by fear by the size of the deficit, they are even willing to grab innocent taxpayers’ hard-earned money under the guise of protecting children.
The second of the proposed changes has to do with children’s booster seats. Currently the law makes it mandatory for parents and guardians to have child seats properly installed for children who weigh 40 pounds or less. The new amendments seek to double the minimum weight to 80 pounds as well as require booster seats in all automobiles that transport children; the only exceptions being taxis and emergency vehicles. The emergency vehicle exception is good--it would be terrible if the police couldn’t transport little Johnnie to the station after he was arrested for a couple of robberies because the squad car lacked a child seat.
This proposed change puts a hardship on those who occasionally but regularly take children in their car. Grandma and Grandpa who are on a fixed income may not be able to afford the cost of three booster seats to take the triplets to anti-government demonstrations to demand an end to literacy tests. The occasional lift from a friend will be out.
as we all know, pedophiles are often released into communities after spending a little time in federal institutions watching television and ordering take-out pizza, Chinese food and heroin. When their addresses are publicized some parents tend not to take the premier’s advice to relax because crime stats are down, and insist on driving their children to school no matter how short the distance. This proposed change will make car pooling more difficult and the result will be more cars, more traffic and of course, more accidents. That’s not to mention the added pollution from the added traffic. Then the government will be whining about that.
This proposed law will only be a hardship on the poor--the ones who cannot afford to use taxis to transport their children or who cannot afford to purchase several car seats to use if the need arises. The Liberals show the same disdain for lower and middle income families that they spent their years in opposition accusing the Tories of.
and, if it is too dangerous for a child under 80 pounds to be in a motor vehicle without being restrained in a booster seat, then it is equally unsafe for adults of the same weight. Dwarfs are people too. The governing Liberals are the party of Sandra Pupatello, who waged a one-woman battle last year when one dwarf was being tossed in Windsor. Now, the government doesn’t care about the well being of any of the little people.
and speaking of tossing, that’s what should happen to the Liberals in the next election.