Reform the MVA

The Motor Vehicle Act of British Columbia is 66 years old at this point. The last major update was 27 years ago.

We live in a world of climate change, of needing to support alternative transportation and the rise of so many different kinds of travel, like e-bikes and e-scooters. None of these things existed when the Motor Vehicle Act was written or revised and yet it provides rules and governance for transportation in British Columbia.

So many other jurisdictions are moving forwards with progressive ways to address these problems, but provincially nothing is happening. The HUB has been campaigning for this since 2017.

The HUB lists some good overall points. But here's some specifics I'd like too see:

Setting the default neighbourhood speed limit to 30 km/h, because speed kills.

Providing for a safe passing distance for cyclists. Something that is the law in:

• Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec
• Edmonton
• the UK
• many states in the US ¹

...and many other places.

Establish a hierarchy of road users that recognises that those who cause the most damage bear the greatest responsibility:

But those in charge of vehicles that can cause the greatest harm in the event of a collision bear the greatest responsibility to take care and reduce the danger they pose to others. This principle applies most strongly to drivers of large goods and passenger vehicles, vans/minibuses, cars/taxis and motorcycles.

The revised Highway Code in the UK, Source

As HUB points out, even the name is biased to focusing on motor vehicles and not people.

Thanks to the changes in insurance at ICBC and the lack of action on the MVA, the BC NDP government was elected in 2017 and has only made life worse for everyone outside of car.

It's time to send an email to your MLA to ask for reform in the MVA and get this onto the parliamentary agenda.