Electric unicyclists complain of $600 tickets for no insurance in Vancouver

Matthew McCormick got a ticket for driving without insurance while on his electric unicycle in Yaletown last week. (Arash Randjbar/Daily Hive)

Electric unicycle riders in Vancouver say they’re being unfairly ticketed for riding without insurance — despite it being impossible to buy insurance in BC.

Bradley Spence, CEO of Eevees, a shop selling e-scooters, e-skateboards, and electric unicycles (EUCs), said about 10 customers have come to him in the last few months saying they’ve been handed $600 fines in downtown Vancouver for riding without insurance.

“The funny thing is, you can’t buy insurance no matter how hard you try,” he told Daily Hive Urbanized. “The ticket shouldn’t really exist.”

Electric unicycle riders put both feet on either side of their knee-height tire, and zip along Vancouver’s streets and bike paths facing forward. Although the devices can look scary, Spence believes they are quite safe — saying they can maneuver more quickly than two-wheeled e-scooters or bicycles.

“You can often get out of sticky situations where cars blindly take a right turn in front of you,” Spence said.

Gabe Kwok is one of the riders who’s been ticketed this year. In February, he was stopped by a police officer on Main Street on his way to school.

“I was confused and a little bit angry,” he told Daily Hive Urbanized. “Because I’ve been riding for seven months with over 3,000 kilometres on my unicycle without issue.”

Gabe Kwok was riding his electric unicycle on Main Street in Vancouver when he got a ticket for not having insurance. (Submitted)

Matthew McCormick was also ticketed last week for riding his electric unicycle in Yaletown, and is fighting the ticket in court because he doesn’t want the fine for not having insurance to appear on his driving record.

“It sounds like I stole some vehicle,” he told Daily Hive Urbanized.

He bought his electric unicycle because he wanted a safer way to get around than his electric longboard, but he didn’t have room in his apartment to store a bicycle.

“I love that I’m able to bring my unicycle upstairs and inside with me,” he said. “And it has a natural anti-theft in that most people don’t know how to ride it when they walk up to it.”

But he doesn’t understand why people on e-scooters and e-bikes can freely ride without insurance, while electric unicyclists are being targeted.

“A lot of people might buy this kind of vehicle because they can’t afford a car, because they can’t afford gas,” he said. “It’s really going to harm them.”

Bradley Spence/Submitted

It’s frustrating for Spence, who’s built a business selling electric-assisted transport devices in an effort to reduce the number of cars on the road. Before opening his store, Spence said he asked more than a hundred police officers on the street as he rode his electric unicycle if it was allowed — and said no cop ever raised an issue.

“I would have never opened this business if I was selling illegal products,” Spence said. “We always knew it was a grey area, and we would always communicate that with customers… [But] all of a sudden, police are deeming them illegal.”

He used to tell customers that no one has been ticketed on an electric unicycle since 2017 — but that all changed this year as the “tickets started flowing.”

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The Vancouver Police Department told Daily Hive Urbanized that electric unicycles are unlawful, and that officers have discretion when it comes to enforcement.

“It is not legal to ride them out and about, rather they are meant to be ridden on private property,” Const. Tania Visintin said.

Vancouver currently has an electric scooter pilot program, but electric unicycles are not included in it.

Spence has hired lawyers to fight tickets on behalf of clients — since the pricey fines are bad for his business. So far, two have been cleared in court. In Kwok’s case, the police officer didn’t show up, and in another, the judge said the ticket wasn’t valid because the rider, a meal delivery worker, was on the sidewalk at the time.

The Insurance Corporation of BC, which is the sole provider of auto insurance in the province, declined to comment on this story and instead referred Daily Hive Urbanized to the Ministry of Public Safety. The government agency did not respond to Daily Hive Urbanized’s request for comment before deadline.

But back in April, BC Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Rob Fleming tabled Bill 23, which proposes changes to the Motor Vehicle Act to enable “new and emerging transportation technology, especially personal mobility devices.”

The proposed legislation adds definitions for “designated micro-utility device” and “designated motorized device,” and would enable BC to “enable the safe use of a broader range of emerging technologies.”

Spence is clear he supports giving tickets to riders who are behaving dangerously — he’s been known to tell off riders who are going too fast or weaving in and out of traffic himself. But he doesn’t think riders should receive a ticket just for using their device. The riders Daily Hive Urbanized spoke with just want a legal framework so they can get to work or school without hassle.

“That [ticket’s] meant for riders or drivers that are driving a car without insurance,” Spence said. “The ticket doesn’t really fit the crime, and there’s no proper legislation on this.”

With files from Daily Hive’s Arash Randjbar