Saanich’s push to update B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act is welcomed by many cyclists and pedestrians, but some drivers are frustrated by the proposed changes.
Back in February, Saanich’s Transportation Advisory Committee, led by Coun. Zac de Vries, recommended that council support proposed changes to the MVA by submitting a resolution to the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM).
The proposal is in part based on 24 recommendations from the Road Safety Law Reform Group, a consortium of representatives from the legal community, cycling organizations and research institutions.
However, the resolution needs to be rewritten to meet UBCM’s formal requirements.
At the May 13 council meeting, council unanimously agreed to send it back to the committee for revision.
Among these recommendations, several vehicle users took exception with the seventh one, which aims to set a “default provincial speed limit of 30 km/h for local (no centre line) streets.”
“I am absolutely outraged,” said Tanya Litton at the meeting. “We did not want speed limits to be reduced in our municipality. It's created traffic congestion, buses take longer to get to the destination and most drivers have been driving at 50 km/h quite fine for generations without creating mass carnage on the roads.
“When vehicles travel at 30 km/h, the e-bikes and e-scooters are able to go as fast, if not faster, than the vehicles, which is ridiculous.”
Others challenged the rationale for adopting lower speed limits across the province.
“I question the number of accidents on Saanich roads that would require the entire population to adhere to a ridiculous crawl of 30 km/h that most people will not support,” said Ian Stringer in a letter to council. “I suggest the council publish the statistics used to impose this action on the public.”
Empathizing with some of their grievances, Coun. Colin Plant said dropping the municipality's speed limits on streets with no centre line is nothing new and shouldn't come as a surprise.
“This council, for years, has been in support if there's no line down the middle of the road to default to 30,” he said. “This notion that we're looking to have a default [that] all roads are going down to 30 is being particularly shocking.
“It's important to know what we're talking about.”
Contrarily, numerous residents, cyclists and pedestrians voiced their support to council.
Saanich resident Steven Hansen Smythe argued that lowering speed limits has proven to be effective at reducing injuries involving motor vehicles and vulnerable road users.
“As the number of heavy vehicles has increased, collisions have become more lethal,” said Hansen Smythe.
He said the 110 vehicle collisions in Saanich involving cyclists reported by ICBC in 2023 doesn't tell the whole story. “There are lots of near misses.”
In addition to promoting safety, the Saanich resident saw this measure as offering broader advantages.
“Reducing the speed limit will… encourage traffic evaporation, which will reduce traumatic injuries and noise, improve air quality and water quality and walkability,” said Hansen Smythe.
Concurring with him was Matthew, a delivery driver, who uses an e-bike as his main mode of transportation.
“It's inarguable that [lowering speed limits] creates an extra burden on cars and makes things slower, but it's important,” he said. “The B.C. government's own website lists that a pedestrian hit at 30 km/h has a 90 per cent chance of survival, whereas a pedestrian hit at 50 km/h has an 80 per cent chance of being killed.”
Arguing that most car users travel less than 10 kilometres daily, Matthew said reducing one’s average speed from 50 to 30 km/h would add only about two minutes to their commute, which is a small trade-off to potentially save the life of a vulnerable road user.
“I know there are drivers who feel alienated by these kinds of suggestions and measures; I understand that,” he added. “There is no denying that there will be an increase to your commute. But is two to three minutes added to your commute worth this kind of increase in safety to the public? That's a question I feel people need to ask themselves.”
A new version is expected to come back before council ahead of UBCM’s June 15 deadline.
