Dear Editor,
The recent increase in ownership of e-bikes has been dramatic: Anyone can buy one, no previous cycling experience necessary.
The e-scooters and e-boards randomly seen whizzing along both street and sidewalk has become a common sight, and it appears to be unregulated.
These modes of power assisted transportation appear to have piggybacked the existing rules of the road relating to cyclists. Some feel that using the sidewalk is just fine, it isn’t!
It is now possible to purchase or rent some form of powered transportation, akin to a motor cycle, without the necessity of either test of competence, nor insurance, unlike motorcyclists.
There is something wrong with this picture, ideally, competency and street smarts gained by use of a regular bike need to be achieved prior to gaining the right to move up to power assisted vehicles.
The Motor Vehicle Act need to be updated to address this issue before more people are injured or worse.
Peter Barker,
North Vancouver
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