Canadian Municipality Looks At Legalizing Low Speed Electric Vehicles

Residents of Hope, British Columbia may soon have the opportunity to drive a little greener in their city.

According to an article in the Hope Standard, Council passed a motion on January 23, 2012 to have staff begin drafting a bylaw permitting the use of Low Speed Vehicles (LSVs) on municipal roads.  The resolution received unanimous support from Council, and the public is expected to have substantial input before the bill becomes law.

LSVs used to be included with other slow-moving vehicles, such as farm tractors, in the Motor Vehicle Act.  An amendment passed in 2008 allowed municipalities to pass specific bylaws permitting LSVs on roads with speed limits between 40 and 50 km/h (21 to 30 mph), and defined exactly what constituted an LSV.

The vehicles will still require licensing and insurance and will be expected to meet all of the safety requirements of regular passenger cars.

Hope will join other British Columbian municipalities like Burnaby, Vancouver and Whistler in approving LSV use on public roads.

For more information, you can read the entire article at www.hopestandard.com.