Hatchet Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 I was just out for a ride to the seawall, got a few blocks and a motorcycle cop pulls me over while going from a road to a park. He asks me how long I have been riding the wheel, I tell him a month or more. He says that in Vancouver, it is illegal to ride these EUCs anywhere in the city. No sidewalks, bike trails, bike lanes, nothing. He says he could give me a $530 fine for riding it in Vancouver if he sees me again! He says they are classified as motor vehicles and cannot be insured either. I just spent $1400 cdn on this wheel, it's my commute to work, and my absolute favorite thing in the world and the cop says i will be fined $530 (which I cannot afford) if he sees it again! $#@%!!!! So now I am faced with not riding a brand new wheel, or facing an unpayable fine if I do. If you live in Vancouver or BC, or just give a damn for some reason, please email the Mayor's office, it's easy! http://vancouver.ca/your-government/contact-mayor-robertson.aspx 604-873-7621 Media relationsmayor.media@vancouver.ca Address Gregor Robertson, Mayor 3rd Floor, City Hall 453 West 12th Ave Vancouver, BC V5Y 1V4 I have not felt so absolutely devastated in a long time, I LOVE gliding my wheel! /Seppuku Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasenutty Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 Have you looked into the actual law to see if it's legitimate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 I just called the mayor and left a messege, I am attempting an email now. i will look into it more of course, but I did some research before buying and saw nothing about this. I told the cop I have passed dozens of other cops with no issue. He said "Im a traffic guy so they probably dont know the law". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanghamP Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 This seems to indicate Vancouver has eliminated EUC's and motorized skateboards from being used anywhere in the city. The rules seem to target everything not a car, not a bicycle, and not a pedestrian. Even scooters seem highly restricted. Yet Vancouver encourages electric cars which is kinda silly since the form factor is still a car. http://www.icbc.com/vehicle-registration/specialty-vehicles/Low-powered-vehicles/Pages/Default.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 Yep, it seems we are a completely backwards bunch of redneck idiots here. "This one has pedals that turn, so it's legal. No pedals that turn?! FINE HIM!!" I am writing my newspapers, and emailed/called Mayor Gregor Robertson's office. I am ashamed of Vancouver. Angry as hell too, i wake up in the morning and can't wait to ride - this is killing me. Maybe a nice ride will clear my hea-...$#@!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingfelder Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 What a bummer, sorry to hear this. I'm dreading my first police encounter too. I've never seen an EUC around here, and the result might not be pretty. I hope you're not left with that worst case scenario. I'm surprised trails would be treated the same as roadways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasenutty Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 It's no thing here in WA. Talked to a few cops while riding. They thought it was cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 I just had the crap luck to run across Dudley Do-right the cop. I had a female cop nod and smile at me just the other day on a sidewalk. I wear full safety gear and i ride very carefully when any peds are nearby. This cop even said, "You're the type I WANT riding these, full gear etc" I don't even know what to do, i ride this to work, I look forward to riding all the time, it's what I "do" now. And it just got taken away from me completely - not even an option to licence it or buy insurance, just "NO!!" to riding at all, anywhere. I'm still in shock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodman Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 You were just unlucky to have come across such a righteous law abiding cop, lets hope he quits or retires very soon. I know how you are feeling having spent so much money and now if you are to ride you will be doing it in fear, it's a terrible feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musk Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Hatchet, I sympathize and feel the same devastation. My ninebot one has been sitting in my closet for over a year now, unused. The ticket is real, there isn't really any way around it - I learned the hard way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fat Unicyclist Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 It may be worth reading the detail of the law carefully... a lot of laws mention the number of wheels / axles, usually stating 2 or more. And a single wheel device is therefore technically not the same. It may not be stated that it is legal to ride one, but often it isn't stated that it is illegal either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted May 17, 2017 Author Share Posted May 17, 2017 I have contacted two local sellers of EUCs, one in Victoria Ridetheglide, and Vaneuc. Tom @Vaneuc actually called me on the phone moments later and we talked for a good long time. Turns out he's been fighting this fight with the mayor and ministry of transport for 8 months! I will join the cause and lend any voice I can, it's about all I can do. I now face my own Kobayashi Maru scenario; ride the wheel to work in the morning as I have done for the past month and home (have to use main roads) and try to fight a possible ticket in court, or ride the stinky, slow smoker-perfume-filled bus and begin mourning my favorite pastime I have ever felt. worldssmallestviolen.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingfelder Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Do you at least have any parks or nature trails outside vancouver that you could visit? If so, you could still have some fun weekends, same way people go to the beach on weekends ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpong Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Beware the lawmakers, because they make laws. That's all they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted May 17, 2017 Author Share Posted May 17, 2017 The crazy law as written simply blanket states you can't ride anywhere that the transit authority controls - which leaves private property or trails where the municipality have issued a by-law allowing them specifically. I'd have to bus a long way to get out of the city, kind of defeats my use for the wheel, it's a V5F+, so the range is limited. It's a great wheel for my use, other than the long bridge ride in the buffetting wind. Bright side is I don't have to upgrade to that 1600wh MSV3... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musk Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 I've looked into it very deeply because I loved riding so much. The relevant law in BC is written very broadly and EUC's fall into the broad definition of "motor vehicle" the way it's described in legislation... that's not a quesion, I've taken it to provincial court. That wouldn't be a problem if you were allowed to purchase motor vehicle insurance for the EUC, but that insurance does not exist, so therefore they cannot be ridden basically anywhere. There's alot more nuance to the locations where you can't ride, but it covers basically everywhere, including parking lots and any place the "public has access to or is invited". The Vancouver seawall is one area where the motor vehicle law isn't applicable, but the parks board has their own rules which prohibit EUC's - probably stemming from a Segway rental operation which existed 10 years ago. You're probably fine using the seawall at night, but in my general experience park rangers (in campgrounds and such) tend to be more Nazi-ish than your typical police officer so I don't know what they'd do. I read their park regulations and "confiscation" was one of the listed penalties, so the consequences probably depend on the mood of the ranger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted May 17, 2017 Author Share Posted May 17, 2017 Tom @Vaneuc said that he has made some progress with the ministry of transport to carve an exception or ..I can't remember the "civics gov't-type name" for it, by-law, amendment, or whatever to allow them or exempt them, but it is a long slow process to change a law. Brutal. Euro-tourists will come to van and say "?Huh? Electric transport is actually banned here??" City spends 10's of millions on nice bike lanes everywhere downtown, inconveniencing traffic & business for years - then says EUC are banned, the perfect vehicle for using bike lanes...banned. Gov't cannot do anything. I can get on my ebike, which has a throttle, bomb down a hill @70kph no one says boo. I put along @10kph through a park, and I get threatened with a $530 fine (they would probably take the wheel too, who knows?) I need to move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radial Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Here in the U.S. there is much talk of emigrating northward to escape the dread Trump. Now I'm thinking, not so fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted May 17, 2017 Author Share Posted May 17, 2017 Don't come to BC, we are a backwards people. We hate clean transport and worship the car apparently. I get it, no licences, parking, fines, insurance, fuel and other taxes to the gov't. /bitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodman Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 1 minute ago, Hatchet said: Don't come to BC, we are a backwards people. We hate clean transport and worship the car apparently. I get it, no licences, parking, fines, insurance, fuel and other taxes to the gov't. /bitter 100% spot on it's all about the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RooEUC Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 This is really bad news. I'm in Ontario and I am still not sure of the law regarding EUCs here. Tonight I had my first cop encounter of sorts. He was parked on the side of the road and talking on his radio. I rode past him expecting him to call me back and maybe tell me I can't ride on the road. But he didn't say anything. Later I saw the same cop a few streets away, just sitting in his car on a side street in such a way that cops park when waiting with their radar guns to catch speeding traffic. Again I rode past him and he watched me but he did not pull me over or anything. I don't know if that means it's ok to ride EUCs here or if I just got lucky and he was a cop with bigger concerns than my EUC or he didn't know what it was or if it was legal or not and so he didn't hassle me. I have been riding electric skateboards in Ontario for 5 years and never had any issues from cops. For some reason though, self-balancing machines like ours make the law makers feel more threatened, perhaps because of the perceived similarities with Segways and hoverboards. It's really sad that we are being punished for being pioneers of this new form of ultra-clean transport. My EUC goes 22kph - hardly a threat or a danger to other people when compared to cars and motorbikes that weigh a ton and can do 230kph. Or electric bikes that are so much bigger and heavier than EUCs and go much faster. Electric two wheel scooters are allowed on the road with no license, tax or insurance and I see them use the pavement almost every day. Cyclists jump from the road to the pavement whenever it suits them and they ignore stop signs and lights and use pedestrian crossings. We are just trying to get from A to B in a simple, clean, silent, non-threatening way and for some reason the government takes issue with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fat Unicyclist Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 7 minutes ago, RooMiniPro said: Electric two wheel scooters are allowed on the road with no license, tax or insurance and I see them use the pavement all almost every day. So, bolt a castor onto an rod that hangs off the back of your EUC - would that make it a (legal) scooter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted May 17, 2017 Author Share Posted May 17, 2017 I halfheartedly joked to this motorcycle officer "I should just glue some pedals to the side of this thing then." He said something like, yeah good idea, kind of jokingly. I totally got the feeling he knows (he looked around 40 or so) it's a dumb law and he seemed to approve of the actual machine, but then, why utterly ruin my day? I could see if i was being reckless, or no helmet/gear or whatever would annoy him. I literally was going slow and controlled, turning onto a nice park paved path, and he did the siren blip from the road and followed me into the park. I mean, come on! Maybe he was on break, or bored, or just super Joe Friday type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 There's something stupid about electric mopeds as well where they have to install functional pedals to make them pass some law. There's really no good reason to have the pedals on, but they need them by design to get them accepted. So maybe @The Fat Unicyclist's idea is pretty brilliant in converting the EUC into a E-Bike. And yes it is so stupid - I guess they want more people driving cars in Vancouver to help add to pollution. I think @Merrittous MonoWheel was very lucky during his rides... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted May 17, 2017 Author Share Posted May 17, 2017 I know me...sigh! My back is up about this. I can see me getting on my wheel tomorrow for work, even though wheels are rare here and i attract attention everywhere I ride. -The only way to get change is awareness, expose as many people as possible to the wheel. 99% of my comments and feedback are positive. "Where did you buy it? How much are they?" These wheels are not going away. But I risk the man coming down on me, he has my name/address etc now and clearly patrols near my home. -I have been Googling "How to fight a ticket in BC" and reading up some. The best scenario is the police officer would have better things to o then go to court, and it gets dismissed, but this guy seems Gung-ho. -I hope to get the info from Tom@Vaneuc for the Facebook group in Vancouver, he says they have a dozen or so members. Group rides would be fun...as outlaws, we will require some jean jackets with a patch! How can I not ride it? I just don't see how this could work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.