E-scooter riders face steep fines if caught without a helmet under the municipality’s new plan to regulate the popular mode of transportation.
The Halifax Regional Council passed a bylaw in July outlining a new speed limit for e-scooters of 25km/h, banning e-scooters on sidewalks and clarifying that helmets are mandatory. If caught without a helmet, riders face a fine of $151.25.
“We’ve got enforcement that we can pursue, but I think that the better approach is to have a more regulated approach to the scooter share businesses,” said David MacIsaac, manager of active transportation in Halifax.
Restrictions on companies
Now, the municipality plans to regulate the companies that rent the e-scooters.
“It’s up to the companies to make a choice on how far they want to go in terms of educating their customers on the new rules of the road,” MacIsaac said of the current situation.
In the next few months, council will move to pass a second part of the bylaw that will focus on regulating e-scooter companies by introducing permits with mandatory conditions surrounding safety, according to MacIsaac.
Max Rastelli has been operating HFX e-Scooters for five years and is concerned that imposing too many regulations could take away from the accessibility of shared electric scooters. HFX e-Scooters is one of two main companies that supply e-scooters in Halifax and maintain over 90 e-scooters.
“I think we can keep people safe and still have a really flexible and convenient service,” said Rastelli.
Mandatory helmets
While permit conditions have not been announced yet, Rastelli expects the municipality will demand that e-scooter businesses provide every rider with a helmet. HFX e-Scooters already has a plan to attach a helmet to every e-scooter next year, according to Rastelli.
Currently, HFX e-Scooters offers helmets at their waterfront location but require riders to return the helmets to that same location when they are done the ride.
While Rastelli said HFX e-Scooters is doing all it can to promote helmet safety, Jesse Palmer, a recreational e-scooter rider, disagrees. He said that he hasn’t noticed a message on the HFX e-Scooter app or on the scooters about helmets being mandatory and the fines riders face if they don’t wear them.
“It’s not obvious if it is there. It’s not in your face about it,” said Palmer.
Palmer said the main thing highlighted in the app before starting a ride is the locations in the city where e-scooters are allowed.
One of Palmer’s biggest concerns is riding on the road, especially during rush hours. E-scooters are allowed on bike lanes, but there are only four protected bike lanes in Halifax, according to the Halifax bike map.
Many new bike lanes have been approved this fall according to MacIsaac, including a protected bike lane on Brunswick Street. He also said an announcement is coming later this fall about which Halifax parks will be officially open to e-scooters.
“There is a lot of work going on to plan, design and build those [bike lanes],” said MacIsaac.
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