Canadian Lawyer

The cycle-law gap REGIONAL WRAP-UP A s cities move towards greener transportation with bicycles playing a role in short-distance commuting, a gap is opening between what Vancouver's David Hay, known as the city's cycle lawyer, calls "the reality and the law." "You look at all the things in the city and its infrastructure such as bike ways and paths, yet the province in its CANADIAN LAW LIST 2012 YOUR INSTANT CONNECTION TO CANADA'S LEGAL NETWORK Inside you will find: • • • an up-to-date alphabetical listing of more than 58,000 barristers, solicitors and Quebec notaries, corporate counsel, law firms and judges in Canada; contact information for the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada, Federal Cabinet Ministers, departments, boards, commissions and Crown corporations; legal and government contact information related to each province for the Courts of Appeal, Supreme Courts, County and District Courts, Provincial Courts, law societies, law schools, Legal Aid, and other law-related offices of importance. MORE THAN A PHONE BOOK Hardbound • Published February each year On subscription $149 • L88804-571-26084 One-time purchase $165 • L88804-571 ISSN 0084-8573 Prices subject to change without notice,to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation David Hay says there's a bit of a gap between reality and the law on bikes. Motor Vehicle Act has no legislation about what any of this really means," says Hay, a litigation partner at Rich- ards Buell Sutton LLP. British Colum- bia's MVA, which deals with cyclists, has several sections dealing with issues such as lights at night or not cycling on sidewalks, but lumps cyclists' obliga- tions with those of motorists. There is no dedicated B.C. statute outlining the rights and obligations of cyclists and how cyclists should behave in varying traffic conditions. "There is no legislative definition [of even a bike lane]," says Hay, a proponent of segregated bike lanes. Cities today are designing various kinds of cycle lanes or dedicating streets to cyclists that still permit vehicle traffic. B.C.'s highway projects and bridges are providing cycle lanes. But, as Hay points out, there is no clarification of what it all means to motorists and cyclists. Hay, who handles about 125 cases CANADIAN LAW LIST annually relating to cycle injury acci- dents, says that jurisprudence setting out precedents leading to a body of 14 A PRIL 2012 www. CANADIAN Lawyermag.com CLL - 1-2 page island.indd 1 1/11/12 3:30 PM

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