Should e-bike collisions be covered by public auto insurance? This Montrealer thinks so

Luc Allard was cycling home from his downtown Montreal office in late September when someone riding an electric Bixi unexpectedly swerved into him, causing a powerful head-on collision that snapped his ankle.

"It's tough to get around," said Allard, who had to undergo surgery and is still working from home with his leg in an aircast, more than a month later.

"I was scared to go down the stairs at first, so I stayed in my room for the first three weeks."

His wife has been forced to work from home as well, taking care of him, their kids and their house as he can't do much except stay in bed all day.

He said his work provides insurance and he has been able to take paid medical leave, but he wonders what would have happened if he'd had less security.

"There's a lot of people who don't have private insurance at work and get into these accidents," he said.

Quebec's automobile insurance board (SAAQ), which covers all expenses related to collisions involving vehicles, isn't responsible for covering the costs associated with this type of debilitating accident that was made far worse by the fact that he was hit by a grown man on a 30-kilogram, power-assisted bicycle, Allard said.

And he isn't alone in this concern.

As e-scooters and e-bikes, also known as micromobility devices, increase in popularity, so has the lobbying effort to tighten rules on their use.

First of all, Quebec doesn't even have its own clear definition of an e-bike or e-scooter, meaning it relies on federal guidelines to determine which type needs a licence plate, said Vélo Québec's Magali Bebronne.

That means an electric scooter, for example, might appear to have power-assisted pedals so it can be ridden on a bike path with no registration or plate, but in fact, the pedals aren't actually functional, she said, describing it as a legal loophole that manufacturers use to their advantage.

This is a big problem, because micromobility devices are a lot heavier than their people-powered counterparts, she said.

Bixis, the shared bikes designed to be workhorses, are already heavy — as any rider can attest — weighing in at 18 kilograms.

The electric Bixi weighs about 30 kilograms, in another class altogether than the average bicycle, which weighs between eight and 13 kilograms.