New Motorcycle Laws for British Columbia, Canada

[61timm]

There are some new motorcycle laws in British Columbia, Canada that will take effect June 1 2012. The helmet law has been defined and the law now requires all helmets to be DOT, Snell M2005, Snell M2010 or ECE certified.
The interesting law for Dual-Sport riders will be the "Keep Your Butt In The Seat" law. Section 55 of the Motor Vehicle Act, states; "the operator of a motorcycle must be seated astride the driver's seat." Myself, I sit on a riders seat, not a drivers seat... and the law will be left for the police officer's interpretation. The fine will range between $109 to $121, and in addition to the fines, the riders motorcycle will be impounded. Although Section 55 is meant to target stunting it does not rule out Dual-Sport riders as it is applicable to all roads, both paved and dirt, in British Columbia.
Keep this in mind when traveling the roads of British Columbia, Canada.

[MountainMan]

Thanks for that, good to know.

The other new-ish law that would be of interest to riders passing through B.C. on their way to and from Alaska and/or the Yukon is the 40km/h law.

Bascially if you are caught more that 40 km/h over, they can impound your bike for 7 days.

It's not usually a problem, but there are more than a few places in the interior that you can be riding at highway speeds (i.e. >110 km/h) and then the limit drops suddenly due to road conditions or passing small communities and if you aren't paying attention, it's not that hard to be in violation.

There are a couple stories of unlucky tourists driving poor old mum from the UK on a sight seeing trip through the mountains only to run afoul of the law. They quickly were deposited on the roadside a long way from civilization and were forced to get an expensive cab ride to the next town where they had to rent a car to continue the journey.


Details:

Starting Sept. 20, 2010 drivers caught going more than 40 km/h over the posted speed limit will have their vehicle impounded for seven days, the provincial government announced.

A driver caught committing the same speeding offence a second time will lose the vehicle for 30 days.
The penalty will be 60 days for drivers who are caught for a third time or more within a two-year period.

Additional penalties


Impoundment will be in addition to existing penalties, which include:

• A fine of $368 to $483, depending on how excessive the speed.
• Three penalty points on the driver's licence.
• An ICBC driver-risk premium of $320 a year for three years, over and above regular insurance premiums.

[gsrichie]

anyone travelling up to Alaska and back. I plan to leave Regina on or about 23rd June2012 and get back to Vancouver for about 11th July i would love some company -a welsh lone biker - good advice on the speeding issues!