One question that is often asked is "under what rules are quadracycles and electric-assist quadracycles operated in Ontario?"
This is a good question to ask, as the rules are very different for pedal-powered quadracycles versus electrically-assisted ones.
This page will examine the rules for these two classes of vehicles in Ontario.
If you live outside Ontario then you will have to check your local laws to see if quadracycles or electric-assist quadracycles are allowed and, if so, under what rules.
An interpretation received by the Ottawa Police department from MTO Policy indicates that under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act (HTA) quadracycles are "vehicles" but not "bicycles" (which is a subset of vehicles). This is because bicycles include only muscle-powered vehicles that have one, two or three wheels.
This places quadracycles under the HTA like other vehicles, but outside the rules for bicycles.
According to the HTA, muscle-powered quadracycles are permitted on any roads in Ontario, except 400 series highways. Being non-motorized they do not require licence plates, driver's licences or insurance. They are required to have a slow moving vehicle sign on the rear of the vehicle.
The slow moving vehicle sign is a good idea anyway - they are cheap to buy and greatly increase the quadracycle's visibility from the rear, which is a safety benefit.
The MTO interpretation that if it has four wheels and is muscle powered it isn't a bicycle, but is a vehicle, creates some problems, although not for quadracycles. This means that small children with training wheels on their bikes don't have to wear helmets, because they aren't riding a bike but a "vehicle". They also have to have slow moving vehicle signs and aren't allowed on bike paths.
If you read the HTA carefully it is apparent that skateboarders and roller skaters also have to have slow-moving vehicle signs, too.
You can hear the Ottawa Police interpretation in QuickTime or Real Player formats as part of a CBC News program about our quadracycle. It runs just under four minutes.
In Ontario it is left up to individual municipalities whether they will allow cycling on sidewalks or not. Most urban municipalities do ban cycling on sidewalks as an issue of pedestrian safety, but check your municipal bylaws to be sure.
Even if cycling on sidewalks is allowed in your municipality you will probably not be able to quadracycle on the sidewalk, since quadracycles aren't bicycles in Ontario.
The City of Ottawa prohibits almost all vehicles from using sidewalks, including bicycles, skateboards, rollerskates and in-line skates. Only wheelchairs, baby carriages, children's tricycles, children's wagons or handcarts used for vending are permitted on sidewalks. Traffic and Parking BY-LAW NO. 2003 - 530 Regulation 84
The rules for electric-assist quadracycles in Canada are very different than for pedal-powered quadracycles.
Motor vehicle safety standards in Canada are set by Transport Canada under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (MVSA). Under this act pedal-powered quadracycles are not regulated but powered ones are, including electric-powered ones.
The Act defines a vehicle regulated under the Act as:
"vehicle means any vehicle that is capable of being driven or drawn on roads by any means other than muscular power exclusively, but does not include any vehicle designed to run exclusively on rails."
This means that powered quadracycles have to comply with the Act and the associated regulations (MVSR) to be eligible to be imported into Canada or used here.
The regulations classify all powered quadracycles as "low speed vehicles". This category is defined as vehicles for which:
"the maximum speed attainable in 1.6 km (1 mile) by each low-speed vehicle shall not be more than 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour)".
This relieves them of many of the requirements of passenger cars, such as bumpers and air bags, but the Standards do set requirements for these vehicles to be acceptable in Canada.
Low speed vehicles are required to have:
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) (Regulation Section 115)
Approved seat belts (Regulation Section 209)
Low Speed Vehicles (Regulation Section 500) sets further requirements which are specified under Technical Standards Document No. 500 — Low-Speed Vehicles, including:
"Each low-speed vehicle shall be equipped with:
If the powered quadracycle you are looking at doesn't conform to these requirements then it can't be imported or used in Canada, even on private property. Individual provinces' Highway Traffic Acts may also have restrictions on the use of low speed or slow moving vehicles. For instance Ontario does not permit motorized low speed vehicles on public roads.
Rhoades Car electric quadracycle models e-one and e-two don't currently meet the MVSA requirements and therefore cannot be imported into Canada or driven in this country.
Some people have suggested that electric-powered quadracycles could be used under the Ontario e-bike trial currently under way.
The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) is engaged in a three-year trial of what they term "Power-Assisted/Electric Bicycles" or "e-bikes".
MTO has this to say about these vehicles:
"Effective October 3, 2006, the Province of Ontario began a three-year pilot project to evaluate the use of power-assisted bicycles (also known as electric bikes or e-bikes) on roads and highways where conventional bicycles are currently allowed. The pilot is open to all Ontarians 16 years of age and older and will run for three years. For the duration of the pilot, electric bicycles will be treated as bicycles and must follow the same rules of the road as set out in the Highway Traffic Act that currently apply to cyclists."
MTO also has a complete run-down on the e-bike pilot project including FAQs.
Anyone considering an electric-assist quadracycle in Ontario should note that the MTO trial is restricted to vehicles that have three or fewer wheels and thus electric-assist quadracycles are not permitted on Ontario roads.
Since the trial is only considering two or three-wheeled e-bikes it is unlikely that four wheeled e-bikes will be permitted on roads in Ontario in the near future. As described above, a four-wheeled e-bike would conflict with the Ontario HTA as well as the federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
Here are the parameters for the e-bike trial:
"Ontario adopted the definition contained in s. 2(1) of the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (Canada) and that is:
"power-assisted bicycle", means a vehicle that:
Questions about the Ontario 2006-2009 e-bike trial project should be directed to MTO.
Quadracycles and the Law ←
This page was last updated on: Monday 6 July 2009
