Vancouver police ticket 100 e-scooter riders in first two days of Project Vigilance blitz
Most tickets were for helmet violations, and police say enforcement will bring fewer warnings and more fines through the winter.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
Vancouver police have handed out 100 tickets to e-scooter riders in the first two days of a downtown enforcement push, Sgt. Adam Donaldson said. Most were for not wearing a helmet, and the second most common offence was riding on the sidewalk.
"This portion of the project, it's all going to be about enforcement. So, there's going to be fewer warnings going out and more tickets," Donaldson told reporters.
In September, the VPD's e-scooter awareness campaign ran, and most offenders got warnings.
The current effort is part of Project Vigilance, a winter traffic-safety campaign that also targets speeding, distracted and impaired driving, and jaywalking at high-risk intersections and school zones. A woman was killed riding an e-scooter over the weekend, police said, before the launch.
Vision Zero spokesperson Haakin Koyote said e-scooters are not going away and argued that safety requires bike lanes across the Lower Mainland to give riders a designated space off sidewalks and streets.
In B.C., the e-scooter speed limit is 25 km/h, and riding above it or splitting lanes are also ticketable. The VPD has not released fine amounts for Vancouver tickets.
How many riders are on Vancouver streets, and what share of them were ticketed?
What fine amounts apply to the 100 tickets issued so far?
What is the total cost of Project Vigilance and how many officers are deployed?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
