Video posted to social media showing someone riding an e-scooter in the fast lane of Highway 1 through Burnaby has prompted the RCMP to remind people that e-scooters are not safe on the freeway.
But it turns out that it isn’t completely clear where they are and aren’t legal.
“There are some jurisdictions in B.C. that allow e-scooters on the road,” Corp. Mike Kalanj of the Burnaby RCMP told CityNews.
“However, I can guarantee you that they are not legal on the Number 1 Highway.”
But where are they legal?
“It’s quite convoluted. It’s kind of crazy that we don’t have a B.C.-wide legislation,” he said.
“Whereas some cities are putting bylaws in to make it legal it makes sense to get people out of cars. But at the same time, I haven’t seen something like this from Burnaby or anywhere else for that matter.”
It’s a city-by-city issue, he says.
“Some cities have created bylaws that allow it in certain situations, and most municipalities, as far as I know aren’t making it legal. It’s because of the safety.”
Kalanj says there is a minimum speed on the highway, and this scooter did not look like it was meeting that minimum.
“It comes down to logic,” he said. “It’s crazy that someone would think that was safe.”
He asks anyone who may know the identity of the rider of the e-scooter in the video to come forward.
“So if there’s any way we are able to identify the scooter rider, which is pretty tough, we would open the file again,” he said.
“We would definitely try and educate first and potentially ticket second.”