Coroner's office calls for clearer definition of e-bikes in Ontario

An expert panel is calling on the Ontario government to tighten its definition of what counts as an e-bike, in an attempt to improve safety and reduce the number of fatal crashes.

That recommendation is one of seven found in a review of e-bike deaths that was prepared by Ontario's office of the chief coroner and other stakeholders and released this week to the public.

It emerged from work that began in 2021 by the Ottawa Fatal Collision Review Committee, a local group made up of police, public health officials, city staff and other experts.

That year, the committee noticed there had been five recent local deaths involving e-bike riders:

The report noted certain similarities in all the crashes, including that all the e-bikes appeared to have been modified "to increase their speed beyond design specifications."

Each e-bike was more akin to a motorcycle or moped and could not "be used as a pedal-assisted bicycle," the report said.

As well, three men had suspended licences at the time of their deaths, while the other two had previous suspensions, leading the report's authors to suggest they were using e-bikes as "a substitute for a registered, licensed vehicle."

Four of the five also had drugs in their system when they died.

"We noticed all those things, and we said, 'Wait a minute, this is really concerning from a safety [perspective],'" said Dr. Louise McNaughton-Filion, regional supervising coroner for eastern Ontario.

Under the current rules in Ontario, e-bikes cannot travel faster than 32 km/h, nor can they be modified to go faster than that.

They can weigh up to 120 kilograms, however. The revised definition put forward in the report would more than halve that, cutting the maximum weight to just 55 kilograms.

The report also urges Ontario's Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to consider a separate classification for larger, motorcycle-style e-bikes, and potentially require their users to have a licence and insurance. (Currently, e-bike users do not need to be licensed.)

It also calls for agencies to be more thorough and consistent when it comes to collecting and tracking statistics on e-bike injuries and fatalities.

"If you are able to say that any vehicle .... that looks like a motorcycle or looks like a scooter is treated like a motorcycle or a scooter, that should resolve some of the problems," McNaughton-Filion said.