British Columbia riders told to sit down

Legislators tighten up on laws that restrict riding techniques

Posted: 4 May 2012
by Visordown News

Oi, you. Sit down!

ARE you sitting comfortably? Well if you ride in British Columbia, Canada, you ought to be.

New motorcycling laws have been introduced to increase safety and include stronger helmet laws, requiring riders to wear helmets that are Snell DOT or ECE approved much like we have over here.

However, riders are standing-up against the re-emphasis of a current law that sees riders fined, or at worst, seeing their motorcycle confiscated if they're caught standing up out of the seat.

The rule states "The operator of a motorcycle must be seated astride the driver’s seat.” and while that might not be an issue here in the UK, over in British Columbia, where dirt roads outnumber tarmac by six to one, Dual Sport motorcycles are popular and so is standing up out of the seat.

Police claim the law is there to prevent stunting but we all know the stunters will quickly adapt, leaving ordinary riders sat very uncomfortably indeed.

The case continues..


Previous article
Train hits motorcycle at level crossing
Next article
Man sues BMW for enormous cock-up


motorcycle safety british columbia, stnaidng up motorcycle, stunting canada, dual sport canada
TwitterStumbleUponFacebookDiggRedditGoogle


Discuss this story

Oddly similar to an article I posed yesterday doing a more detailed analysis: http://www.onewheeldrive.net/2012/05/03/standing-illegal-bc-new-motorcycle-safety-laws-and-flaws/

Posted: 04/05/2012 at 23:11

Exactly, it's stupid legislators who think they know better than anyone creating nanny state policies to svae none, but affect many.

BTW, look into Canadian Ontario bill 203, which goes as far or farther than BC's law ... it's a gem and possibly not very legal one. Has been in place for years now. Looks like BC has learned exactly nothing from Ontario.

Posted: 07/05/2012 at 12:16

@OneWheelDrive and mxs mxs 3, I used to think that the ONtario and BC laws regarding bikes were Draconian til I recently learned that in France and Spain they'll take your bike on the spot if you're going too fast also. And in the UK you wont gt your bike taken away but you will get a ban and probably go to Prison.

So its not THAT bad in Ontario/BC. I dont exactly know the extent of the BC laws but I think they're probably similar to Ontario and its not THAT hard to stay below 110km/h in town and below 150km/h on the highway is it? And if you are going quicker than that and you see the blues and twos in your rearviews just gas it and go :) :D ;)

Posted: 08/05/2012 at 02:05

Of course they haven't learnt anything - You said it yourself - They're politicians.

Like with EUrocrats .... understanding what they're meddling with is an optional extra.

Hardly any of 'em care if it makes sense - They just want other people, equally stupid, to vote for them.

Posted: 08/05/2012 at 19:33

Talkback: British Columbia riders told to sit down