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Battery-powered bikes and scooters have exploded in popularity but are largely unregulated, leading to a similarly growing rate of injuries and complaints, but one Manitoba city has now made the rules clear.
And breaking any of them comes with a $50 fine, and in cases of flagrant repeated abuse, the vehicle may be impounded, the City of Morden states on its website.
But that isn’t the focus at the moment.
“The approach we took for this was more of a safety approach first … to educate the public and especially the youth,” Morden police Chief Sean Aune told CBC Manitoba Information Radio guest host Chloe Friesen.
“The shocking part was some of the really young riders and how fast these things could go and just that there was no helmets being used and it was kind of known that these were unregulated and there was no laws regarding them.
“Up until this point, they weren’t really being told where to go, where to ride. That’s kind of what prompted us to think we should probably do something.”
Morden, about 95 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, amended its traffic control bylaw two weeks ago to include all personal electric vehicles (PEVs), including e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards, and more.
It’s believed to be the first municipality in the province to do so, in the wake of the provincial government passing Bill 43, The Highway Traffic Amendment and Drivers and Vehicles Amendment Act.
The bill, which establishes a framework governing the use of PEVs on public roads as well as the minimum ages for use and maximum speeds, officially passed on June 1 but has yet to be proclaimed into law.
“Further regulatory work is required to support the full implementation of Bill 43. Our department is working through the necessary regulatory amendments that will accompany these legislative changes,” an email from the provincial government stated.
Once it has been proclaimed, the rules will apply in all municipalities. However, a municipality can pass their own bylaws to tailor the rules to their particular needs, a spokesperson with the Association of Manitoba Municipalities said.
For example, the bill has a blanket prohibition to operating PEVs on sidewalks, but municipalities can permit it through their own amendments, according to an AMM letter to the province in April, when the organization sought input and clarity on the proposed rules.
The provincial framework also doesn’t specify things like the required position on the road for cyclists or the use of hand signals, so things like that would also need to be amended by a municipality if it had a strong position on them, a City of Winnipeg spokesperson said.
On its website, the City of Winnipeg says it is still determining which bylaw changes might make sense for it.
“There’s quite a difference” between urban and rural uses and needs to PEVs, Aune said.
Many larger cities have special bike lanes to separate pedestrian-powered vehicles from vehicular traffic, and more people use PEVs to commute.
“But when you come to the rural side of it, there are streets and there are places where these really could be used and, we believe, in a safe manner. So we thought we’ll tailor this and we’ll try to make an approach … that works for us,” Aune said.
An AMM spokesperson said other municipalities are considering following Morden’s lead, but there is already concern about how to police the new rules once they are imposed by the province.
The RCMP, which oversees many smaller communities, is already stretched thin. The AMM is seeking clarification on whether community safety officers, who operate as non-police peace officers, would have the authority.
“Municipalities may face challenges ensuring consistent and visible enforcement with limited personnel and resources,” the letter from the AMM to the province says.
“Without clear provincial guidance and support, there is a risk that enforcement will become largely complaint-driven, further straining already overstretched police and bylaw services.”
In Morden, the city’s police officers and bylaw officer will be responsible for enforcement. But Aune said it’s unlikely any police cruisers will be pulling over scooters, at least not right away.
“Generally we have a high compliance out here. So we’ll just take it step by step,” he said. “Compliance and safety is kind of what we’re going to go for here.”
