Limited Speed Motorcycles on the Highway Shoulder

So is this just another case of the "Law" missing the point on common sense and safety for these riders, or is it just outdated needs a second  more rational look at these machines ?

Sort of like kids in elementary school being forced by "Law" to ride their bikes on the roadways, with their backs to the traffic, instead of on sidewalks on their way to / from school.

When we moved to Nanaimo, and our kids went to Hammond Bay School, there was not even a shoulder on one side of Hammond Bay Road, and at the speed cars, gravel trucks, buses, etc., roared past, I told my kids to ride on the sidewalk side of the road: both directions, on the sidewalk, and I would pay any fines.

Now, 20 years later, hardly any kids are allowed to either walk or bike to that school.

That's an interesting question, and one that I was wondering about myself as I wrote this.

Should these drivers be restricted to streets with a speed limit of 70 km/h or less? They did that with low speed vehicles when they were approved for use on our highways this year. To me this keeps the speed differential down and I would expect it to reduce the probability of a collision.

I did search but was unable to find any research related to this, but I will keep it in mind in case I do come across any.

Bicycles are legally creeping onto our sidewalks in some places. Just like on the side of the road, if the traffic shared, we won't have a problem with it.

Ultimately, the problem is us. We don't seem to want to think of anyone else when we drive, and if you can't stay with the pack or stay out of the way you are in trouble.

That's always an interesting question, especially since our speedometers are not as precise as they might be right out of the factory. Does an officer leave a little room to cover inaccuracy? How much room is a little room, and how long does it take before the drivers expect to drive at the "new limit" which is the posted limit plus that little bit of room?

I've had people tell me that they weren't speeding, that they were only doing the 10 over that is allowed.

Slow driving is something that I've always found difficult, to explain to the speeders that is. They seem to think that no one should be below the posted limit and if they are, they shouldn't be on the road. I always took the view that I had to apply the same tolerance under the speed limit that I did enforcing speed over the limit.

The MVA actually permits slow driving when it is necessary to be safe, but it does not permit speeding under any circumstances.

You didn't touch on the one most infuriating characteristic found in more and more LSM or motorized bicycle (avec pedals) riders these days. Riding on the sidewalks and in crosswalks. In the Kelowna area I see this almost daily. It is bad enough that you have non-motorized cyclists whooshing in and around you through cross-walks, with little warning or reaction time because they are moving so much faster than a pedestrian. Now the motorized cycles and LSMs can commonly come out from behind other vehicles or semi-obstructed views driving on the sidewalk or through cross-walks.

It infuriates me to no end. Where do these people get off thinking they can ride their motorized vehicles on the sidewalk or through cross-walks. Typically I would suggest the rider shouldn't even be riding one because almost without exception they are very low-skilled riders and they appear to be scared out of their wits anyways. There really needs to be some licensing for both of these vehicle types.

Another one, the riders of LSMs using bicycle helmets.

I know this is a common complaint however where are the police because I have no problem seeing these people almost daily and sometimes several per day in my limited time (typically less than 1/2 hour per day) driving the roads.

In actual fact I think that some of the people I have seen wearing bicycle helmets were possibly riding scooters and not even LSMs. The motorized bicycles I have seen, I usually identify by looking for the pedals because they have to still have pedals. And they typically are a little bit leaner (read scrawny) looking, not as much bulk, just like a heavy duty bicycle frame.

But the driving on sidewalks and using crosswalks for all the scooters, LSMs and motorized bicycles in Kelowna has almost become common place. Typically the riders are one of two types, a young woman (18 - 23 years) or a middle-age to older woman (35 - 60 years). Without licencing for most of these vehicles in place what do you do to the riders? Yeah, you can give them a fine but you have no other recourse because most of them (49cc and under) don't even require licenses.

I remember one occasion very clearly, I was sitting in the right turn lane on a red light (Harvey (#97) and Spall, if you know it), across the crosswalk come a big scooter (a larger sized scooter, definitely well over 50cc) with a man driving and a woman riding with him. They rode across the crosswalk towards me, turned onto the median between the right turn lane and the through traffic lanes, then pushed the crosswalk button to cross the other roadway. When the light changed I watched as they rode through the crosswalk across that second roadway as well. I was so tempted to tell the guy off when I was sitting there, they had pushed the crosswalk button and were also sitting there waiting. Tell him what a frightened little child he must be since he was afraid to ride on the road with the big boys. Ask him if he needed training wheels also? I often think that I should have, he was only 8 feet away and I had my window rolled down most of the way already.