I will be traveling in my XK Coupe across Canada from Ottawa to Medicine Hat in September. What degree of speed limit enforcement should I anticipate?

 

Let's see- a Jag with a foreign plate on it that's speeding. Leave your radar detector and guns at home, bring your wallet.

Likelihood of getting a speeding ticket varies as much in Canada as it does in the US.

 

Sounds like a nice drive, still nice weather in September. I've usually found you're ok up to 15 kmh or 10 mph over before any officer will even look at you. 20 k over is very common, but maybe some local people can chime in. Ontario has their own police force, whereas Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta have RCMP.

I find from my travels in Washington, Idaho, etc, that Americans tend to be much more law abiding when it comes to speed limits than we do up here.

One question- why drive on our side of the border, when going through the USA will be 25-30% cheaper in fuel, food, and accommodation?

 

Check the laws, radar detectors are ok in BC, it used to be against the law in Alberta,don't know about the rest of the country.

 

Just a drive through a part of Canada we have never been in before, on our way to Wyoming.

 

Illegal and subject to nasty fines and confiscation in all provinces except BC, AB and SK.

We see lots of NY plates here in the summer. Left lane bandits, passing on the right and excessive speeding seems to be common (?) Best advice I can give is to blend in best you can, do as the locals are doing- don't give them an excuse to give you a ticket.

 

Vehicle speed enforcement is sporadic across Canada, Usually heaver nearest the cities. I keep my speed around 10 kph over the limit and drive 50,000 to 60,000 kilometers annually and haven't had a ticket in 20 years. BTW radar detectors are only permitted in BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. If you have one put it in the trunk hidden in the other provinces. I have heard that here in NB even if they aren't connected and currently being used they can be confiscated and a ticket will be issued. Don't bring Guns, Alcohol, (our beer is better anyhow) or excessive tobacco products. You can bring up to $800 duty free per person back into the US after 48 hours, so buy yourself something nice. (excluding alcohol and tobacco, different limits apply) And watch out for the Moose! They look like ugly cows on stilts. That's an amazing drive, bring your camera and wave to the other Jags along the way.

 

Here in Ontario, the provincial police are called OPP and they work on a ticket quota system. Many of us refer to them as 'Barney' in memory of the Andy Griffiths show.
Also, cost of policing has been downloaded to the townships and the OPP stations negotiate the policing costs and how many dollars in tickets they plan to write. We have friends in the townships and OPP officers who have told us all about this and most of them hate the traffic duty as they know its not about safety.. just dollars.
Coupled with this we have very low speed limits. 100 KM hr. (close to 61 mph I believe) but most drive at 120 KM hr. (as I do) without being hassled. Once you go a bit over, they ticket you and its from 100 KM hr. so its expensive.
This is on the large divided highways.. on two lane paved roads the limit is 80 and the above applies here as well (can get away with 20 over).
So, I assume if you keep within the above you should be ok too and hope you enjoy your trip.
In British Columbia they have begun to smarten up by increasing the limit to 120 on divided highways.. a step in the right direction. Safety studies show speed differential is the problem, not the higher speed limits when it comes to accidents, and of course left lane hogs.
Lawrence.

 

lol!

 

Being from the US I can't see your radar detector being a problem, but it will depend on how much the officer enjoyed his last meal rather or not he will do something about it. Sounds like a great road trip, enjoy it!

 

Be aware ... in Ontario, there's a racing law ... basically, if you drive 50kph (approx 30mph) over the speed limit ... it's a $10,000 fine and auto confiscation of the vehicle!


Most hwy speed limits is about 100kph (62mph).

And Radar Dectectors are illegal in Ontario.

Hope this helps ...

Have a great trip!

Dave