The cabinet minister in charge of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) said that he has no interest in requiring cyclists to have insurance coverage to ride their bikes in the province in the near future

David Eby, attorney general of BC and minister in charge of ICBC, told News 1130 that he sees mandatory bike coverage as “counterproductive” despite admitting that drivers have sent him letters advocating for the change.

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“One of the things we’re trying to do as a province is really encourage people to, when they can, use a bike, to walk, to use public transit instead of driving and that’s the direction that we’re trying to go for a number of climate and health-related reasons,” Eby told News 1130.

Kevin McLaren, a personal injury lawyer based in Vancouver, agreed with Eby and called the idea of asking a cyclist to pay for insurance a “dangerous one.”

“I believe they tried that in other jurisdictions, and it just led to fewer people wanting to take up cycling,” McLaren told News 1130. “So, if you introduce a system of insurance that really doesn’t penalize the person that’s at fault for the accident, the populations of cyclists and pedestrians are going to be even more vulnerable. Under our current system, you buy insurance on your car, so that you’re protected. The idea of forcing a cyclist to pay for their own insurance is punishing somebody that’s trying to do the right thing by getting a car off the road. Cyclists aren’t the ones causing injury to motor vehicles.”