Two West 琉璃神社 councillors are calling for stronger enforcement around youth riding electric dirt bikes recklessly on city roads, saying someone is going to get seriously hurt, or worse.
At council鈥檚 July 22 meeting, both Jason Friesen and Garrett Millsap shared observations of kids tearing down busy streets at high speeds.
鈥淚 understand wanting kids to have fun,鈥� Friesen said. 鈥淭he problem is that what I鈥檓 witnessing is that it鈥檚 going to be fun until one of them gets killed. And I have a problem with that."
Friesen noted that he is not allowed to ride a dirt bike down the street that doesn鈥檛 have lights, signals, or mirrors.
鈥淎nd if you were to see me doing that, you鈥檇 pull me over and we鈥檇 have a discussion,鈥� he said to Staff Sgt. Brendan Dolan, the officer in charge of the West 琉璃神社 RCMP Detachment, who was in attendance.
鈥淭hat is certainly on our radar,鈥� Staff Sgt. Dolan said. 鈥淲e have to remember that the majority of people riding these bikes are youths, and don't have the life experience such as yourself or I might have with regards to operating a motor vehicle on a public road.鈥�
Staff Sgt. Dolan promised council that he would discuss the matter with the detachment鈥檚 traffic division to find strategies on how to best address the situation, and encouraged residents to report specific incidents with as much detail as possible, including times and locations, to help RCMP respond.
鈥淲e鈥檙e constrained with the amount of police officers on the road at any given time,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f we can get that repetitive reporting鈥� we can kind of be proactive in that approach.鈥�
Coun. Garrett Millsap described seeing the issue firsthand while visiting Nelson this summer.
鈥淭hese kids were going down the road doing wheelies down Main Street,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 actually stopped them, and I said, 'How fast are you guys going?' One kid goes, 鈥榊eah, this thing will do 140 km/h.鈥欌��
Millsap said he wants to see tougher penalties, including confiscating bikes, noting that he saw three electric bikes on his way to the council meeting "going down the middle of Boucherie Road faster than traffic."
鈥淚 would really like to see us push up enforcement, because someone is going to get seriously hurt or die. And if I don鈥檛 say something now, then I will regret it. Let the parents phone and find out what was going on,鈥� he said.
