E-bikes that look like motorcycles take another hit in B.C. Court of Appeal decision

The British Columbia Court of Appeal has upheld a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that e-bikes designed to look and function more like mopeds or scooters do not meet the province's definition of a motor-assisted cycleand therefore require a driver's licence, registration and insurance.

The case was brought forward by Ali Ghadban, who was issued a ticket in Surrey, B.C., in 2018 for riding hisMotorino XMrwithout a driver's licenceandinsurance. He said he wasn't able to obtain them from the provincial insurer, ICBC.

Two of the three Appeal Court justices assigned to the case agreedwith the B.C. Supreme Court judge's decision from May 2020 that foundalthough the Motorino XMrisoutfitted with pedals, limited power and a maximum speed of 32 km/h, it doesn't qualify as a motor-assisted cycle because it's notdesigned to be operated primarily by human power.

At the heart of the issue are the XMr's small pedals, which Court of Appeal Justice Harvey M. Grobermanagreed would do little to propelthe nearly 115-kilogrambike.Groberman said the XMris designed to almost exclusivelyoperate as a low-powered electric motorcycle, or as "a very heavy, impractical bicycle."

Although the XMr meets many of the technicalrequirements of a motor-assisted cycleas defined in B.C.'s Motor Vehicle Act, Groberman wrote, it doesn't do so in practice.

"If a piece of legislation defines 'cat'as 'a small four-legged furry mammal that purrs,'we would not expect that definition to include a dog fitted with a loudspeaker that plays a purring sound," he said.

Affordable, environmentally friendly

Lawyer Dan Griffiths, who represented Ghadbanin the case, saidhis client is a man of modest financial means who relied on the bike to get around.

"He was excited to find a transportation option which was affordable and which also had the added benefit ofbeing environmentally friendly as well," Griffiths said.

Ghadban, 35, does building maintenance for homeless shelters on the Downtown Eastside, Griffiths said, andhas never had a driver's licence. His client intends to takethe case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

But Erin O'Mellin, executive director of cycling advocacy group HUB, saidthe decision is a step in the right direction.

O'Mellin saidthere's a lot more danger associated with electric scooters than actual bicycles, regular or electric especially if they're sharing infrastructure such asbike lanes.

"[Electric scooters] are much heavier and they move at a much faster speed, so the consequence of a collision with this kind of scooter and someone on a regular bicycle would be much more dramatic," she said.

Outdated laws

B.C.'s Motor Vehicle Act hasn't been updated in 50 years, O'Mellin said, and it doesn't deal with all of the thenew electric mobility devices that have come onto the consumer market in that time, includingelectric standupscooters and skateboards.

She saidit's important that devices such ase-scooters be included so that drivers are aware of their responsibilities.

"If you have a larger, faster-moving vehicle, there's more onus on you to have training to make sure that those roads are safe for all users," O'Mellinsaid.

In a written statement, the Ministry of Public Safety said the province and the provincial insurer, ICBC, "are examining impacts with respect to products now confirmed by the courts to be non-compliant to operate on public highways, such as the Motorino XMr."

After the B.C. Supreme Court decision in May, ICBC made a few subtle changes to its webpage on motor-assisted cycles.

The latest version no longer includes an image of what looks like an electric scooter alongside an e-bike under the subheadings "electric bikes" and "motor assisted cycles."

Thousands of customers

Steve Miloshev, owner of the Motorinostore in Vancouver, saidthe decision is disappointing because so many of his clients rely on e-scooters for transportation especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people want to avoid public transit.

"I am upset for the thousands of our customers who have invested thousands of dollars in their clean transportation," he said in an email to CBC News.

Miloshevsaid he believes his scooters and the customers who use them have been unfairly targeted, compared withdevices such aselectric standupscooters.

However, those scooters were never legal on B.C. roads.

Miloshevsaidhe intends to focus his business on the "countless" new technologies that are available.

"As a company that pioneered light electric transportation in Canada, we are very optimistic in the evolution of environmental and practical solutions for transportation," he said.