A new designation allows net zero emission vehicles to be drive legally on designated roads in the Nanoose Bay and Schooner Cove area.
Also known as low-speed vehicles or neighbourhood vehicles, to be road legal they must be built to travel at speeds of 40 km/h or less and bear Transport Canada's national safety mark. The vehicle also needs to have ICBC registration and insurance, operate in compliance with the Motor Vehicle Act, and drivers must have valid driver licenses.
Michelle Stilwell, Parksville-Qualicum MLA, and other politicians unveiled the new signs marking the neighbourhood on Monday.
“We’re all looking at ways to reduce pollution and find alternative methods of transportation, especially when we are just travelling within our neighbourhoods,” Stilwell said, in a press release. “Allowing licensed electric vehicles to be legally driven in the Fairwinds area will cut back on greenhouse gas emissions and save money that otherwise would have been spent at the pumps.”
The vehicles can only be operated on roads under the jurisdiction of the provincial Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure where authorized by permit, or on municipal roads with a speed limit of between 40-50 km/h if authorized by a municipal bylaw.
Golf carts cannot be registered as net-zero vehicles as they fail to meet minimum safety design standards.