Bill 9 amends the Schedule to the Newfoundland and Labrador Highway Traffic Act to increase the numeric penalties attached to a range of speeding offences and to standardize higher penalties for racing and stunt driving. The measure replaces existing Schedule rows for specified subsections (110, 110.1, 110.2, 168 and 168.1) with new tables that escalate monetary amounts and short-term suspension/impoundment durations for repeat offences.
The change shifts the statutory penalty structure rather than creating new offences: it raises the dollar amounts and the listed day-based sanctions tied to exceeding speed limits in multiple speed bands and sets updated numeric penalties for racing and performing stunts. Practically, the bill increases the cost of repeated high-rate speeding and makes short administrative suspensions/impoundments lengthier at the high end — a change that affects drivers, fleet operators, enforcement agencies and courts responsible for adjudication and collection.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill replaces several rows in the Act’s Schedule so that each listed speed band now carries higher graduated monetary amounts for first, second and subsequent offences and longer days-based sanctions. It also resets the numeric entries tied to racing and stunt-driving offences to new amounts and durations.
Who It Affects
Individual drivers (particularly repeat speeders), commercial fleets and their compliance officers, provincial enforcement agencies that issue tickets and manage suspensions/impounds, and courts/administrative bodies that process fines and collect ancillary amounts.
Why It Matters
The Schedule amendments change the practical costs of traffic infractions without rewriting offence elements; they raise deterrence and revenue stakes, shift the calculus for prosecutors and enforcement, and increase the administrative burden for license/suspension and vehicle-handling systems.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
Rather than introducing new offences, the bill edits the Schedule that attaches penalties to existing Highway Traffic Act provisions. For several speed-related subsections—110(3)(b) through (e) and corresponding rows under 110.1(4) and 110.2(4)—the Schedule now shows higher dollar figures for the graduated fine tiers (first, second and subsequent offences) plus a second set of monetary figures and two separate sets of day-based durations.
For example, under one subsection the new fine tiers read $250, $400 and $550 and are accompanied by a second column of $200, $300 and $400 as well as listed day amounts such as 5/10/12 and 2/4/6 days. The same structure is replicated across the other speed bands with larger amounts at each step.
The bill distinguishes three ranges of speeding: 11–20 km/h, 21–30 km/h, 31–50 km/h, and 51 km/h and over. The Schedule increases the monetary tiers progressively across these bands, and the entries for the 51+ km/h band show the largest figures (in some Schedule entries, up to $1,900 in the highest tier).
The identical pattern of replacements appears for three separate Schedule locations (110, 110.1 and 110.2), so whichever subsection applies to the specific enforcement context will now point to the raised numbers.Separately, the bill replaces the Schedule rows for subsections 168(1) and 168.1(1) — the provisions that deal with racing on highways and performing stunts while driving — with new numeric entries. Those rows now show a $1,000 monetary figure alongside additional listed amounts and day-based sanctions (for example, a $1,000 entry followed by $280 and day figures such as 30 and 4 days).
Finally, the bill sets a clear commencement date for the amendments: the new Schedule entries come into force on April 3, 2023.Taken together, the amended Schedule establishes a steeper, tiered penalty regime: higher baseline monetary exposure for speeders, larger jumps for repeated offences, and higher numeric entries for the most serious speed bands and for racing/stunt conduct. The bill does not change what conduct constitutes an offence; it changes the numeric consequences attached to those offences.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The Schedule now lists three graduated monetary tiers for each speed band (first, second, subsequent offences); for 11–20 km/h the tiers include $250, $400 and $550 under one Schedule entry.
Higher speed bands receive much larger top-tier amounts — in the amended Schedule some 51+ km/h entries reach up to $1,900 in the highest tier.
The same replacement pattern is applied in three Schedule locations (sections 110, 110.1 and 110.2), meaning the increased amounts apply across multiple enforcement contexts set out in the Act.
Racing (s.168(1)) and stunt-driving (s.168.1(1)) Schedule rows are changed to show a $1,000 monetary entry and associated day-based sanctions (e.g.
30 days and 4 days in the table).
The bill brings all these Schedule changes into force on a single date: April 3, 2023.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Raised penalty tiers for core speeding bands
This provision deletes the existing Schedule rows tied to paragraph 110(3) and substitutes new rows that list higher monetary figures and longer day-based sanctions for the 11–20, 21–30, 31–50 and 51+ km/h bands. Practically, it means that any ticket or administrative consequence that references those Schedule entries will now point to larger amounts for first, second and subsequent offences and increased durations where the Schedule lists day-based sanctions.
Parallel increases for the second Schedule location
This replacement repeats the same structural increases at the Schedule rows associated with 110.1(4). The bill sets even higher numeric entries in this block (for example, the top-tier numbers in the 51+ band are substantially larger than the corresponding entries in section 110). By changing multiple Schedule locations, the bill avoids leaving a lower-penalty pathway in the Act’s existing tables.
Identical pattern extended to a third Schedule locus
Section 110.2(4)’s Schedule rows receive the same replacement as the two prior blocks. Repeating the increases across 110, 110.1 and 110.2 ensures that different statutory contexts (the Act references multiple subsections for different circumstances) will uniformly reflect the raised penalties rather than producing inconsistent penalties depending on the subsection invoked.
Updated numeric entries for racing and stunt driving
The bill replaces the Schedule rows for racing on highways and performing stunts while driving with new numeric entries that include a $1,000 monetary figure and associated ancillary amounts and day-based sanctions. Those numeric entries will determine the statutory numeric consequences attached to convictions or administrative findings referencing those subsections.
Single commencement date
The Act states that the amended Schedule entries come into force on April 3, 2023. That single commencement date governs when enforcement, ticketing, and administrative systems must start applying the new numbers.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on this topic across all five countries.
Explore this topic in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Road-safety advocates and public-safety planners — Higher monetary exposure and longer short-term sanctions increase the statutory deterrent for high-rate speeding and stunt/racing conduct, which aligns with road-safety policy goals aimed at reducing dangerous driving.
- Provincial enforcement agencies (RCMP/municipal police) — The clearer, higher penalty schedule strengthens the enforcement toolbox and may make it easier to pursue escalated consequences for repeat offenders.
- General driving public (indirectly) — If higher penalties deter high-risk behaviours, other road users gain from reduced collision risk and associated social costs.
Who Bears the Cost
- Individual drivers who exceed posted limits — Drivers face larger fines and longer listed day-based sanctions for repeat and high-rate speeding, increasing out-of-pocket exposure and short-term loss of vehicle access or licence privileges.
- Commercial fleet operators and compliance officers — Fleets that operate in the province face higher financial exposure for drivers’ infractions and may need to update internal compliance, training and ticket-management processes.
- Court and administrative systems — Higher fines and a larger volume of escalated penalties can increase administrative overhead for ticket processing, collections and appeals, and may require updates to IT and case-management systems.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is balancing a stronger deterrent against dangerous driving (using higher fines and longer day-based sanctions) with the risk that steeper monetary penalties disproportionately burden lower-income drivers and that implementation complexity (mapping the Schedule’s numeric columns to enforcement processes) will create administrative friction and legal disputes.
The bill is a numeric rewrite of the Schedule, not a reform of offence elements; that makes its policy effect significant but legally narrow. Because the table in the Schedule contains multiple columns of numbers and day-based entries, implementation hinges on administrative clarity: every ticket, convictions database and licence-suspension workflow must map the correct column to the appropriate sanction (monetary vs. day-based).
The bill does not include interpretive notes about column headings or transitional language for outstanding charges, so courts and enforcement agencies will need to confirm how existing outstanding tickets are treated at commencement.
There are equity and operational trade-offs. Steeper monetary penalties fall hardest on lower-income drivers and may increase justice-system contacts for those unable to pay, while non-payment often triggers further administrative sanctions.
At the same time, the bill increases administrative and collection burdens and may push some disputes into courts. The Schedule approach is efficient for rapid change but carries the risk that numeric increases — if not paired with public information campaigns and updated administrative systems — will produce confusion at the point of ticketing and during enforcement.
There's more to this law than the bill.
Codify Laws traces every connection across the legislative lifecycle.