Whether you’re a motor vehicle operator or someone who walks, bikes or uses other mobility devices on roads, in British Columbia you’re subject to the Motor Vehicle Act, or ‘MVA’.

The MVA was written in 1957, a time when only 200,000 vehicles were registered province-wide, and bicycles were lumped alongside 'play-vehicles'.

Since then, population growth has fundamentally transformed the use of roads across the province. There are over 3 million registered road vehicles in BC. And one quarter of all British Columbians cycle weekly or more, with several communities reporting 1 in 10 commuters going by bike.

The MVA is Antiquated, and Mostly Ignores People Biking and Walking

While frequently amended in the subsequent six decades — hundreds of amendments in the last 20 years alone — the continued failure of the MVA to recognize the many different ways our roads are used today has resulted two major issues:

The rights and responsibilities of people on foot, bike, or other mobility device are poorly defined, resulting in lack of clarity and forming the basis of much litigation between users over the years; and
Provisions for the safety of vulnerable road users are few and inadequate (especially when compared to those for motor vehicle operators), thus adding to risk on our roads.

People biking must ultimately navigate antiquated rules which do not consider bicycles to be 'vehicles', but which do expect them to adhere to the same set of rules and responsibilities as people driving.

In recent years, the importance of dedicated and protected cycling infrastructure to encourage people to bike — and to make these facilities safe — has been demonstrated by scientific research.

This research has motivated many BC municipalities to build safer routes, but these new facilities are not defined or recognized in the MVA. This major legislative gap makes many transportation planners and engineers concerned about how to build the infrastructure needed to double cycling mode share, and meet the ambition of BC's Active Transportation Strategy.

Where our inadequate road laws discourage safer route designs, the result is a willingness to bike for transportation by only the hardiest, bravest, and most experienced British Columbians.

Ultimately, this also results in an equity issue — cycling can reasonably be viewed as something that’s not for everyone. Beyond age and ability, in some of the BC communities that are small and rural in nature, a significant portion of the population rely on walking and cycling. Few if any dedicated facilities for these modes exist, so sharing roads with motor vehicles is the default condition. Clear rules to govern this coexistence becomes critically important.

The bottom line is that, with the current road rules, riding a bicycle often requires making a desperate choice: either operate according to safe cycling practices, or to the letter of the law.

And yet, even following accepted safe practice, a person who violates a technical rule of the road while cycling can be denied legal remedies for their injuries.

Deficiencies in the MVA are thus matters of both safety and justice, and it is difficult to imagine the reasons for keeping legislative reform on the back-burner much longer.

The Case for Reform, by the Numbers

Moving to Vision Zero: Road Safety Strategy Update and Showcase of Innovation in British Columbia (2016 update)

In 2016, the BC Road Safety Strategy concluded that safety advances for people on foot or bike are needed, due in part to mounting evidence, from analysis of road use data in BC and from across the country, that a perfect storm is brewing on our roads:

In Canada, cycling among commuters has tripled over the past 20 years
Proportionate to mode share, cyclists constitute an increasingly greater share of serious injuries from motor vehicle crashes
Vulnerable road users — cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists — face a greater risk of death or injury in a crash with a motor vehicle than the motor vehicle occupants; a person cycling in BC faces greater likelihood of injury and death than a BC motor vehicle occupant for the same distance travelled.
The risk of death when cycling is considerably higher in BC than in other jurisdictions with more advanced road safety policies.

What Can Be Done to Protect Vulnerable Road Users?

Simply put, our laws can be updated to recognize vulnerable road users, define their rights and responsibilities, and protect their safety individually and collectively.

So — whose responsibility is this?

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) employs transportation experts, some dedicated to reviewing and updating legislation. In January 2020, MoTI was granted perhaps its most expansive authority yet, by way of an MVA amendment called “Part 13 — Pilot Projects”.

From the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure website (February 2020).

This amendment gives MoTI “regulation-making powers” to approve and advance micro-mobility pilot project applications from municipalities, in order to test and evaluate the use of new devices, like e-scooters, on local streets.

The intent? "To enable reform and modernization of the Act and regulations to respond to emerging issues...and to enable research, testing and evaluation for up to 3 years.”

The problem with this approach is that critical gaps in provincial legislation will persist throughout those 3 years. The amendment, in effect, encourages communities to experiment with the use of unregulated, ‘grey market’ transportation devices — those that are not defined or afforded safety protections under the law, and which are not insurable by ICBC — as the means by which new legislation will be formed. It is difficult to imagine this not adding to existing conflict between transportation modes on BC roads, let alone greater risk to users.

As a result, the BC Cycling Coalition, with the support of our members — in particular, Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society, Cycling BC, and the Trial Lawyers Association of BC — expect the BC Government to use its lawmaking power, and its existing research and policy-making expertise, to update the laws to protect everyone using our roads.

British Columbians need and deserve clear and enforceable rules to pave the way forward. It’s time for bold action on road safety.

Recommendations for Change

We believe it is necessary, and possible. In 2016, as part of the Road Safety Law Reform Group of BC, we helped develop the position paper Modernizing the Motor Vehicle Act, containing background on the MVA and 26 recommendations for change set out in 5 sections:

“At its core, the purpose of the Motor Vehicle Actis to promote safe use of roads. Its name should reflect that objective, and not emphasize motorists in particular.”

— Road Safety Law Reform Group of BC (2016)

Change the Name of the Act: This opening recommendation suggests naming the legislation ‘Road Safety Act’, a symbolic step in support of both the BC Government’s Vision Zero plan, and the common need for increased public awareness of road safety. This name would ultimately reflect the Act’s essential purpose.
Classify Road Users and Give Municipalities Options: This section recommends adopting classifications for all road user groups (including various types of e-bikes), and empowering municipalities to set suitable speed limits within municipal boundaries.
Add Rules to Improve Cyclist Safety: Recommendations here focus on a number of important safety issues, including:
- Safe passing distance
- Passing on the right
- Traffic circles
- Riding two abreast
- Hand signals
Add Rules for Cyclist-Pedestrian Safety: These recommendations call for improved safety measures for cycling-walking interactions on sidewalks or in crosswalks.
Fines for Violations Threatening to Vulnerable Road Users: This section proposes increasing fines for violating safety provisions for vulnerable road users, including:
- Dooring
- Obstructing designated bike lanes

Read the 2018 position paper on Motor Vehicle Act reform.

Strong cases have also been made for other changes to the legislation, most significantly those which have been adopted by some jurisdictions in North America and Europe. One such issue is ‘stop as yield’, which was pioneered in Idaho in the early 1990s, and which has been enacted in several other U.S. states in the last few years. As of October 1, 2020, Washington became the 5th state to allow people riding bikes to treat stop signs as yields when no traffic is coming. Named the “Safety Stop”, it passed during the 2020 Washington State legislative session with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The other is the ‘reverse onus’ applied to vulnerable road users, which exists in Ontario. In much of Western Europe, the operator of a motor vehicle will rarely avoid culpability for harming someone on foot or bicycle; Article 185 of the Dutch Road Safety Act of 1994 states it succinctly: “As a driver you are liable when you crash into a cyclist.”

How Long Could MVA Reform Take?

According to MoTI, a re-write of the legislation could take “years and years and years”.

Yet, less than three years into their mandate, the current BC Government has introduced significant changes to ICBC legislation, alongside expansive, new regulatory frameworks. If there is sufficient political will and resources to reform the so-called 'dumpster fire' of our public auto insurance system, reforming our road safety laws seems do-able.

A broad spectrum of advocates, academics, health researchers, legal practitioners, and transportation planners and engineers, believe that MVA reform is not just do-able, but vital. Proposed changes would lead directly to increased safety for vulnerable road users, while promoting clarity, awareness and compliance with laws among all road user groups. MVA reform would increase the potential for an active transportation boom to fulfill the promise of the Active Transportation Strategy, and CleanBC.

Road safety legislation written for today’s world — especially given pandemic conditions that may last for another year or more — would signal to the world, and all British Columbians , that we have the vision and resilience to meet the challenges of a new world.

We’re calling on the Province of BC, prior to the start of the fall session of the Legislative Assembly, to prioritize resources towards — and publicly express support for — reform of the Motor Vehicle Act.

What You Can Do to Help

The volume and types of users on our roads today, and the devices they’re operating, have changed drastically since 1957. Our laws have not.

As an advocacy organization we have a responsibility to ensure the provincial government is made aware of the impact of gaps and deficiencies of legislation on road behaviour, population health, injury and mortality, equity, and public opinion of our lawmakers.

One day, bold legislative reform will help lead the way towards a new era for active transportation in BC. You can help advance that timeline with a few simple actions:

Write a letter to your MLA, asking for MVA reform to be prioritized
Write a letter to members of the Executive Council who influence such legislative work, such as Premier John Horgan, and Ministers Claire Trevena, David Eby, and Mike Farnworth
Join us - become a member of the BCCC so we can continue this work, and represent your interests to our provincial government.
Join your local cycling group, and support their work (they may already be members of BCCC!)
Post your thoughts on social media — be sure to tag us on Facebook (@bccycle), Twitter (@bccycle), and Instagram (@bccc.bc.ca), as well as your MLA
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Why BC Needs to Replace the Motor Vehicle Act with a Road Safety Act