Need for speed?

The Ontario government’s latest move to raise speed limits on more provincial highways will no doubt please drivers who spend long stretches on the 400 highway series. On wide, divided highways built for high volumes, a bump to 110 km/h can make sense. Most drivers already travel at that pace, and modern vehicles are designed to handle it.

But the timing and the broader message feels off, at least from a local context.

The announcement came soon after the province eliminated photo radar in many areas, despite years of data showing that it reduces collisions, slows traffic, and protects pedestrians. It’s hard not to notice the contradiction: higher speeds on major highways paired with fewer tools to curb dangerous driving everywhere else. For a government that often speaks about safety, this is a mixed signal.

Here in Kawartha Lakes, the disconnect is even sharper. Local councillors routinely say speeding is among their most common complaints they hear from residents. Whether it’s rural concessions near Fenelon Falls, Pontypool back roads, or suburban pockets of Lindsay, the story is the same: drivers are going too fast, and people feel less safe walking or cycling.

Parents worry about school zones. Farmers worry about tractors being passed. Seniors worry about crossing the street. And emergency responders know that speed often kills in serious collisions.

So when Queen’s Park celebrates faster limits — without pairing the move with stronger enforcement or community level safety measures — it lands awkwardly. It suggests a government more focused on convenience than caution, more attuned to commuter frustration than to the lived reality of rural roads.

Of all premiers in recent memory, this one seems wholly unconcerned with evidence-based decision making. Crime policy based on anecdotes, cancelling a basic income pilot project before the results were in, shuttering renewable energy contracts without analysis.

No one is arguing that some highways should stay frozen at 100 km/h forever. Other provinces manage just fine with a bit higher speed limit. But road safety isn’t just about what happens on the 401. It’s about the thousands of kilometres of smaller roads where people live, work, and raise families. It’s about the places where a few kilometres per hour make a real difference.

If the province wants to modernize speed rules, it should also modernize its commitment to safety, with better enforcement tools, stronger support for municipalities, and a recognition that rural communities face different risks than urban ones.

Because here, the message from residents and their representatives is clear: we’re not asking for faster roads. We’re asking for safer ones.