Kamloops crash brings brewing electric bike concerns to attention
An electric dirt bike crashed head-on with a truck in a Kamloops neighbourhood after what residents say has been a year of growing concern for their use.
A youth was taken to hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries Thursday evening, Aug. 15. Although RCMP referred to the bike as an e-bike, it has no pedals and is much closer to a dirt bike.
David, a Juniper neighbourhood resident, feels the crash might not have happened if enforcement was taken earlier.
"It just felt so avoidable if any amount of action had taken place," he said, adding that neighbours in the area have been reporting to police electric dirt bikes ridden on the roads in Juniper for at least a year.
He said he's heard of numerous close calls in the area, now escalating to a very serious collision between a pickup truck and a rider. Photos taken after the crash and posted to social media show the bike and a helmet on the pavement and the lifted pickup it was up against.
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Although the make of this particular bike is not known, the most common models are made by a brand called Surron. They market their smallest bike as "part dirt bike" and "part mountain bike." It has no pedals, weighs around 120 pounds and can reach a top speed of 75 km/h.
"The proliferation of e-mobility devices, from one-wheeled unicycles all the way to electric cars, really the government cannot keep up," Bryce Granger of the Kamloops Cycling Coalition said.
The organization advocates for cycling safety and separated infrastructure in Kamloops, but he sees these types of bikes as belonging on the road and potentially regulated, adding that even the RCMP suggestion that the collision was between a truck and an "e-bike" has "muddied" the message.
Meanwhile, the bikes are becoming more common.
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Cheryl Beattie of Kamloops Performance Cycling Association said Surrons and similar bikes are not only seen on local streets, but they're on mountain bike trails the organization manages like Pineview and the Bike Ranch, while they're also seen in Kenna Cartwright Park and Barnhartvale playgrounds. Because of their speed and weight, they cause damage to trails and have even damaged the new paved pump track at the Bike Ranch.
Beyond that, they cause concern for safety for the trail users who are meant to be there.
"The user conflict and danger potential is a huge concern," she said. "As much as we're whinging at the damage to the pump track, also the interaction between having little, tiny kids on run bikes and having people on motorcycles -- those bikes are riding at a greater speed and sketchiness. The potential for user conflict is super dangerous."
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She added that riders at the Bike Ranch, particularly trail workers with the organization, have tried instructing Surron riders that they are not permitted on mountain bike trails, but the message doesn't appear to have changed rider behaviour. She also said police have responded to a dirt biker in the Bike Ranch at least once.
"They asked, 'Well are you not allowed to do that?'" Beattie said. "So now we're having to educate police too that no, you're not allowed to ride a full motorcycle around Kamloops."
Bikes like Surrons, she said, should be restricted to places like Inks Lake where there are specific motorcycle trails. For now, they fall outside of BC e-bike regulation. E-bikes with pedals fall under two categories with a maximum speed of 32 km/h.
ICBC classifies bikes similar to Surrons as "limited speed motorcycles" with a maximum speed of 70 km/h. A motorcycle licence is not required, but a driver's licence is, and they must be fully registered and licensed.
Beattie agreed with Granger that "technology has gotten ahead of legislation" and there should be some review to ensure high-powered electric bikes are regulated in an effort to minimize potentially dangerous situations.
The crash on Aug. 15 happened on Qu'Appelle Boulevard around 7:20 p.m. and police said it's still under investigation. The extent of the youth's injuries and their current state isn't known.
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