'It’s not worth it': Majority of Canadians admit to speeding

The majority of Canadians have admitted to speeding, whether on the highway or through residential zones.

Tobi Dwyer of Dartmouth, N.S., used to be one of those speeders, but she has changed that habit.

“Summer vacation in P.E.I. in a 90-kilometre zone I was going 40 over the speed limit. Pulled over. I could have had my car taken away,” said Dwyer. “I haven’t sped since to be honest. It’s not worth it.”

According to a recent Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) survey, one in five drivers said they regularly drive well over the speed limit.

“Nearly 70 per cent of Canadians admitted to speeding in a residential area at least once in the last year, and half say they regularly speed at least on the highway,” said Julia Kent, advocacy and community relations director with CAA Atlantic.

The data also revealed only a third of drivers think they’ll get caught speeding.

“Currently, from speaking with traffic services officers, they are seeing the number one offence is speeding and that increases the risk for collisions as well,” said Nova Scotia RCMP Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay.

Fines for speeding range from $237.50 for going up to 15 km/h over the posted limit to $2,422.50 for going 50 km/h or more, which is also known as stunting. Those are the fines for first offences. The amount goes up for each offence.

Anything above the posted limit is considered speeding.

“Our officers do have the discretion when they pull you over whether it’s to issue a verbal warning, a written warning, or an actual summary offence ticket,” said Tremblay.

At the end of the day, CAA said speeding simply is not worth it.

“Travelling 10 kilometres over the speed limit increases the likelihood of collision by 60 per cent -- over half, and it only saves the driver four minutes per trip,” said Kent.

RCMP said any speeding is dangerous.

“Any type of speeding, whether you’re driving a car, motorcycle or other vehicle on the roadway, is reducing your time distance to react to incidents on the road,” said Tremblay. “Whether that’s a traffic hazard like an animal, whether it’s a vehicle ahead of you braking, or with the wintertime coming, maybe it’s slippery conditions.”

Dwyer’s advice for other drivers is simple.

“Don’t speed. Let’s just keep it down especially in the cities where there’s a lot of crosswalks, there’s schools. There’s a lot of things that are important to other people as well,” said Dwyer.

The CAA survey also looked at driving habits. For instance, it showed four in 10 Canadians admitted to running a red light. It also revealed 68 per cent said they drove when they were too tired and more than half said they used their phone at least once in the past year.

The CAA survey was based on a poll of 2,880 Canadians conducted between Sept. 13 to 21, 2024. The numbers were not broken down regionally.

The sample size has a margin of error of +/-1.9 per cent.