Starting Friday, drivers who tailgate fire trucks or keep on motoring with an emergency vehicle in their rearview mirror will get slammed with tough new traffic fines.

Jan. 1 will bring a slew of stiff highway penalties that include licence suspensions, possible jail sentences and some fines that are quadruple the current punishment.

Drivers who don't pull over for emergency vehicles or who follow fire vehicles too closely will get hit with the harshest penalties, with a maximum fine of $2,000 -- up from the current $500 fine -- along with three demerit points and a possible two-year licence suspension.

Repeat offenders could face fines of up to $4,000 and a possible six-month prison term.

Firefighters hope the new sanctions will be effective.

"It's just generally a lack of understanding and consideration," said Peter Kennedy, president of the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association.

"There's still an awful lot of education to be done," he said, noting how many drivers pull off the road but don't come to a complete stop.

"Once we go by, they go right up on our butt and figure it's free passage," said Kennedy, adding many drivers think "it's almost like a race to get back into the queue."

Since June 2008, when Ontario introduced laws requiring highway drivers to move over an extra lane for emergency vehicles, drivers still aren't giving enough room for first responders, said deputy fire chief Bruce Montone.

"We've seen some change in driver behaviour but unfortunately not enough," said Montone.

He said distracted drivers often narrowly miss emergency workers "by a matter of inches."

"That law is there as much to protect the public as to protect the responders," he said.

Darryl Wilton, president of the Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa, said drivers need more public service announcements explaining the laws, not just tougher fines.

"The problem is when we're outside our vehicle and someone is whizzing by you at 120 km/h, we have no control. You try to get the message out but people are not getting the message," said Wilton, a paramedic supervisor.

Starting Friday, drivers will also face increased fines for running a red light, not wearing a seatbelt and not securing kids under 16, with those penalties doubling to $1,000. Careless driving and failing to remain at the scene of a collision now carry a $2,000 fine, double their current rate.

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