Some B.C. municipalities are appealing to the province to create consistent road safety regulations across all jurisdictions. It comes as e-scooter injuries spike among underage riders, and municipalities move to reign-in their use. Patrick Johnstone, the mayor of New Westminster, said he’d like to see cohesive bylaws across B.C. when it comes to e-scooters. “The province needs to move quicker to get to a set of proper regulations,” he said. He adds it’s become a campaign issue as he seeks re-election in October. “I’m not exaggerating at all when I say, when I go to a meeting at a senior centre in New Westminster and talk to seniors about their number one issue, it’s not affordable housing right now. It’s not crime on the streets. It’s fear of scooters on sidewalks,” he said. Nathan Pachal, the mayor of Langley, said he’s also head from community members that there is confusion about how to operate electric scooters. “People want to do the right thing, but they don’t know how to do it,” he said. “I hear from parents that really do want to have their children use e-scooters, but unfortunately they don’t know what’s safe.” On Tuesday, Pachal and Johnstone joined Vancouver City Coun. Lucy Maloney and road safety advocates to announce they would be introducing five resolutions at the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention. Margie Sanderson, with Vision Zero Vancouver, said, every year 300 people die on B.C. roads. “If this were an issue of a few bad drivers, surely we could have put a stop to this by now,” she said. “This is a systemic issue, so rather than focusing on individual responsibility, Vision Zero takes a systemic approach looking at design, engineering as well as policy, regulation, enforcement and education.” The resolutions from the cities of Langley, New Westminster and Nanaimo include asking the province to modernize legislation, create consistent rules for mobility devices, and provide municipalities with the funding and data to eliminate serious injuries and deaths on the roads. Maloney said she wants to see greater investments in traffic safety and cycling infrastructure. “Last year on Vancouver’s roads, 16 people died,” she said. “That is a spike on the average, which is something like 10 people per year—which is far greater than zero, which is what we’re aiming for.” In a statement to CTV News, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit said it will continue to work with local governments and road safety partners to improve road safety and safe access to active transportation infrastructure. “We appreciate the input from municipal leaders and road-safety advocates on calls to make B.C. roads safer, which is a priority shared by the province,” the statement said. According to UBCM, endorsed resolutions that are provincially-relevant are brought to the province, and are shared with the appropriate ministries.
