On February 3rd, 2014, the Oak Bay Police Department will launch another innovative program to promote safe cycling in our community. Cyclists who are found riding at night and don’t have any lights on their bike because they don’t own any, will be given a two week amnesty to buy some lights in lieu of receiving a violation ticket for riding a bicycle without the required lights at night.
Project Lumiere has been developed to encourage cyclists to be more visible at night and comply with the Motor Vehicle Act rules for cycling at night. “High visibility with adequate lighting on your bike could save your life” says Cst. Rick Anthony.
In Project Lumiere, police will be targeting cyclists who are riding during the hours of darkness without the required lighting on their bikes as specified by law. If the cyclist states that they don’t own any lights, they will be offered the opportunity to participate in this bike light amnesty program and offered a two week window in which to buy the lights, install them on their bikes and then attend the Oak Bay Police station with the bike and a receipt for proof of purchase for the ticket to be cancelled. If they don’t comply and attend within the two weeks to show off their new lights, the ticket will be processed in the usual fashion and the violator will have to pay the fine.
“The primary goal is to promote and enforce bike safety, not just penalize people for not adhering to the law”, says Anthony. “We would much rather have safe cyclists than someone just paying a fine and likely still continuing to ride without proper and adequate lighting on their bikes”.
The program will run from February 3rd through to the end of spring break on March 23rd.
