Motorcycles

May 2025 is a busy month for road safety campaigns in British Columbia. ICBC is holding a speeding campaign and the BC Association of Chiefs of Police are running motorcycle safety and high risk driving campaigns.

Terrence Wojtkiw was issued a violation ticket for three Motor Vehicle Act offences while riding a TAG 500 electric scooter equipped with pedals. He had modified this motor assisted cycle (MAC) so that it no longer qualified for exemptions under the Motor Vehicle Act. He disputed the ticket.

Question: Now that cycles and motorcycles are defined as Vulnerable Road Users (VRU), why are they not allowed in bus lanes? Please note I am not talking about HOV lanes. Motorcycles are exempt from HOV lane restrictions regardless of whether a "Motorcycles OK" sign is displayed or not.

Question: I was on a motorcycle trip a few years ago with a friend , and was riding about 10 km/h faster on a two lane highway and cars were still pushing me to go faster. There was a solid line so no passing as well there were also curves to consider. The shoulder was loose gravel and for me to pull over each time the cars formed a pack behind me I would slow down and pull off to let them go.

Question: I am wondering if you can let me know about a few things about building a 400cc or less Japanese chopper. (cheap insurance less than 401cc):

Conspicuity is an important word in any motorcycle rider's vocabulary. Being seen by other road users is a must to avoid being involved in a collision. One method of increasing a motorcycle's conspicuity is through the use of a modulating headlights.

Conspicuous motorcycles are under represented in crashes, so being conspicuous could be a good thing for a rider. The right gear helps prevent look but failed to see crashes (SMIDSY) according to research.

With good weather returning, I wonder if you could remind everyone that there are more motorcycles on the road. We all need to check around extra carefully because bikers are more vulnerable and easy to miss.

The case of Yu v Dynamic Air Solutions involves a collision between a motorcycle and the open driver's door of a pickup truck on Southwest Marine Drive in Vancouver. The key liability issue is whether motorcyclists should be allowed to proceed down lanes with parked vehicles so long as there is sufficient room to pass.

I'm flabbergasted that motorcycles with loud exhausts seem to be the "sacred cows" of our highways and byways. I recently spent about 18 hours working at a job site immediately adjacent to Harvey Avenue near Pandosy Street, during two sunny days of spring weather. The number of loud motorcycles and "jacked-up" diesel 4 x 4's trucks that constantly hammered their throttles was astonishing.