What’s the rule on bike lanes?

Dear Editor:

In recent times, there has been much said about the laws of the land and their interpretation and understanding. The age old question that seems to come to the fore is “When is the law not the law?”

A specific reference here centers around the recent bike lane developments. The B.C Motor Vehicle Act specifically points to designated use of bike lanes. The bike lanes, by law, are restricted to pedal bikes and e-bikes (32/kmh max.) only.

For some inexplicable reason B.C. government run or sponsored agencies play what might be called the merry-go-round, pass the buck or CYA game. Seems somewhat typical and true to form from my perspective.

My case in point is legal reference to a point regarding what methods of transport may, by Motor Vehicle Act, use the bike lanes.

To get clarification, I approached what I thought should be the department that should deal with this, namely ICBC.

The response that I got was, “We don’t deal with this.” I was referred to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. At that moment, I thought that I was in the right place to get clarification.

However, a representative said that my inquiry should be referred to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Once again, I thought that this had to be the place for clarification as to bike lane use. Once again, I was referred to the Penticton branch of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The contact person there, I’m almost certain, thought that I was just visiting the planet. Back to square one or what?

In a meeting with Kristen Dixon, city infrastructure manager, it was found that the city was not going to monitor bike lanes and that there was little or no need to do so.

When asked, “Are you going against the Motor Vehicle Act?,” she was non-committal.

Last week, the issue of power scooters came up. Apparently these vehicles will have a place in the bike lanes.

There are some legal issues here. One is that users of said vehicles must be 16 years of age or older, wear a helmet and use a scooter with a maximum speed of 32/kmh.

Think about accountability if and when there are accidents in an unmonitored bike lane in our city.

Ron Barillaro Penticton