By Chris Gooderham, a member of SPEC’s Board and the Energy & Transportation Committee
As road traffic in the Vancouver area increases with the use of more vehicles, bicycles, e-bikes, skateboards, and other modes of transportation, taking a good look at the “Motor Vehicle Act” is long overdue. Simply put, the Motor Vehicle Act needs to include all types of transportation methods and be updated regularly to ensure safety.
Not too long ago, I was driving my car one rainy evening and I approached a roundabout that I had used many times on one of our many bike routes. As visibility isn’t great, I’m going quite slow, and upon entering the roundabout, I come in contact with a cyclist. Fortunately, we both stopped before any impact. Why did this happen? The cyclist forgot to turn on his headlamp and he was completely invisible to me. Luckily for both of us, he and I were travelling at a speed that allowed us to react in time and avoid injury.
The biggest misconception is the Motor Vehicle Act does not apply to cyclists, as they aren’t motor vehicles. This of course is false, and one of the many reasons the Motor Vehicle act needs to be updated.
Please take a moment and reach out to your MLA to ask for their support in getting the Motor Vehicle act of BC updated through the HUB community link.
If you are interested in this topic and want to volunteer and meet like-minded people, join us at our next SPEC Energy & Transportation Committee meeting on December 20th at 2305 West 7th Ave. Please double check the events page closer to December to confirm the date.
Chris previously wrote on this topic in August; check out that blog post here.