Significant increase in penalties for cyclists: does the government really want to encourage sustainable mobility?

Montreal, March 28, 2018 - Vélo Québec reacts with incomprehension, disappointment and dismay to the report of the committee on transport and the environment on the Bill 165 amending the Highway Safety Code. Despite Vélo Québec's representations during the commission study of the project, the government now seems ready to go ahead with an increase of 433% fines for cycling offences.

Disproportionate and unjustified increases

While the revision of the Highway Safety Code should be an opportunity for the government to tackle identified, proven and well-documented road safety problems, such as distracted driving, which is implicated in a growing number of collisions, deaths and serious injuries on the road, it is instead proposing a steep increase in fines for cyclists.

Have cycling offences suddenly become a public safety concern? What justifies us, as a society, in increasing so drastically the amounts of offences for cyclists - far more than for any other category of road user? This increase is unfounded, abusive and out of all proportion.

Wall-to-wall sanctions, with no gradation

The proposed penalties for cyclists, ranging from 80 $ to 100 $, take no account of the relative dangerousness of the offence committed.

So the penalty for failing to use a reflector in broad daylight is the same as for failing to obey a red light or stop a school bus!

We agree with the Service de Police de Montréal that: «Guided by expert advice, we suggest that fines be graded according to the dangerousness of the offence. - Service de Police de la ville de Montréal.

The new sanctions are abusive and counter-productive

Once the various applicable charges have been taken into account, a fine of 127 $. For many people for whom cycling is the only affordable means of transport, such penalties can represent more than the cost of their vehicle.

In concrete terms, this also means that a cyclist with automatic pedals whose shoes are not equipped with reflectors will be liable to two fines, for a total of 254 $, if he's not wearing a reflective strip on his ankles in broad daylight!

Vélo Québec's proposal

As a result, Vélo Québec is asking the Minister of Transport, Sustainable Mobility and Transportation Electrification, André Fortin, and his government, to lower the penalties for cycling. We propose an amount of 30 $ to 50 $, which would already represent a doubling of penalties. With the usual administrative costs, this would already represent a real amount of 63 $ per offence, which is enough to act as a deterrent.