Vélo Québec is concerned about the absence of clearly defined rules specifying which vehicles are allowed to use bike paths. This gap, coupled with the arrival of electric scooters on the market, whose popularity is growing by the day, is jeopardizing the safety of cyclists on the bike paths.

According to Suzanne Lareau, president and CEO of Vélo Québec, the electric scooter is bigger, heavier and, especially, faster than a bicycle and should therefore be confined to the street with the rest of the motorized vehicles.

Photo: Baja Motorsports

Questioned about power-assisted bicycles, Vélo Québec maintains they don’t count as electric scooters and do not pose a safety risk on bike paths. The battery of a power-assisted bicycle sends energy to the engine to accentuate the movement of the pedals; the discrete, limited and intermittent assistance in no way perverts the conventional bicycle.

The militant organization also asks that the SAAQ petition Transport Canada to ensure that the various types of motorized vehicles that arrive on the market be properly classified before they are put up for sale and that their users be informed of the public roadways they are allowed to travel on.

Transport Canada and the SAAQ are once again making life difficult for manufacturers, dealers and citizens, like they did with the side-by-side ATVs, which have already been around for over 10 years but have yet to be classified.