My friend, the hotdog vendor at Yonge& Dundas, in front of H&M, told me a sad story today, as I dressed my veggie dog. Seems he was on his way to visit his wife at Toronto General Hospital this past Sunday, when he got pulled over by a couple of the city's finest. Long story made short, they threw the book at him for not having pedals on a 2nd-hand, lime green Eco-Ped he had recently bought.

I feel slightly responsible for having fired his desire to acquire an e-bike, always telling him how cheap and convenient it is, when I've stopped for a wiener.

I gave him our address here at TERA, and suggested he might find some useful advice. The hotdog vendor is a fine fellow from China, whose English is fairly limited. He did tell me that he was somewhat man-handled by one of the cops, who was laughing and telling my friend that if he didn't take care of the ticket (unlicensed motorcycle, the full 9 yards), he would visit the poor guy's home and take him to jail!!!

Hotdog man said he was angry and frightened, but kept quiet for fear of making things worse. Also felt that his minimal English made him especially vulnerable.

Is there any effective legal argument available to our fellow e-biker? The officer also told him his bike helmet was a violation, said he needed a full motorcycle helmet, which we know is b.s., eh?

Soooo . . what useful advice, if any, can we offer?

Make me one with everything ~ cheers

Not advice; a legal fund.

Does he want to pay, or fight it?

Get him a lawyer -- how much of a retainer is needed? Don't act on advice until he seeks council.

But, some advice anyway. Play the media card.

A picture of him, of his wife in hospital -- hopefully, it will be a warmer day, there is a Gatto typically parked at Yonge and Sheppard with no pedals, so a picture of it as well, and HIS ebike, ALL violations cited, and send the story to the Fixer at the Star.

Emphasize his (lack of) English skills; interpret "equipped with" compared with "affixed to". (find references Federal vs. Provincial wording).

The entire package will come in useful for court as well (if needed).

FredW

... it's not B.S. if the pedals are off, once they come of you DO require a full motorcycle helmet. It's stupid, but it's how the law's written right now.

Anyhow... why not buy him some pedals, put them on the bike ASAP. He can show up in court with a translator explaining that he didn't understand the law initially due to his poor English but has been obeying it since he learned. Maybe the judge will be sympathetic.

Thanks guys, and yes, the hotdog vendor has since put pedals on his Eco-ped, and he may fight, if anyone can offer some hope that it would be successful. Is there any credible defense for not having the pedals attached? No one wants to waste time and money going to court, if there is no hope of success, eh?

pedaling hope ~ cheers

Book throwing is not a charge. What are the specific charges and sections under which he was charged?

God, people would you please keep your pedals on, you are just giving the police ammunition in their war on the ebike.

Book throwing is not a charge. What are the specific charges and sections under which he was charged?

God, people would you please keep your pedals on, you are just giving the police ammunition in their war on the ebike.

I am not holding the man's ticket in my hand.

The info he provided was that he was charged with everything that flows from not having his pedals on, and thus not being a legal e-bike, but an unregistered, unlicensed motorcycle. I suggested to him that it was $85. for most simple infractions, but he said no, he was charged with operating an illegal motorcycle, having no driver's license, license plates, insurance, proper motorcycle helmet, et. al.

Sounds dire, not to say harsh, eh? What defense might be available, outside of insanity? He had just bought the 2nd hand machine, which came without its pedals. Since the bust, he has installed pedals.

perry mason cheers

Again, talk to a lawyer.

My take on this issue is that the pedals are not safety equipment. The purpose of the law is to recognize and manage risk to others. The stated goal is to license drivers to have safe drivers on the road.

To quote the Ministry of Transportation

"Ministry Vision

To be a world leader in moving people and goods safely, efficiently and sustainably, and to support a globally competitive economy and a high quality of life."

What if a tail-light is out? That is a piece of safety equipment.

On the other hand, it must be possible to register and plate an e-bike, if these charges are possible. After all, the vehicle is road-worthy (by MTO definitions), and loss of non-safety equipment is not rendering it less road-worthy (from the charges); I think I will contact the ministry and try to have my e-bike plated. It should then be possible to be considered both an e-bike and an LSM at the same time. Furthermore, it should be possible to take your LSM test on an e-bike.

Yes, Fred, all these things are possible - at least, if your ebike will pass a motorcycle safety test, which would probably require some work, and if you're willing to pay the several thousand dollars a year it would cost you to get insurance for it.

E-bikes don't have VINs, so they need to be plated/insured as 'homebuilt'. Doing this is the opposite of cheap.

Moped insurance is $87/year, for the required $200,000 third party liability coverage.

Why would it be thousands?

FredW

Many e-bike shops around town display their wares sans pedals, and also send customers out for test rides on machines equally pedal-less. Is it a possible defense that our hotdog vendor had just recently purchased the bike, and had had no time to acquire pedals?

~ cheers