'You're Not Taking My Bike', Says Rider Whose Bike Was Taken

There are plenty of ways to approach an interaction with police on the road, but making a run for it on an e-bike isn't a good one. Making a bold prediction about how it's going to end is quite the gamble too. One man in British Columbia allegedly told an officer, "You're not taking my bike," before speeding away. As you've probably gathered from the headline, that confidence had little basis in reality. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the encounter happened on the evening of October 8 near Lougheed Highway and the Cedar Valley Connector. Police attempted to stop a man riding an electric dirt bike. 

While e-bikes are legal in most places in Canada, electric dirt bikes like this one aren't the same and are prohibited from roads, sidewalks, and bike lanes. So officers had good reason to want to chat. When they made contact, the rider made his declaration and sped away. His escape didn't last long, as officers caught up and arrested him for fleeing. According to the RCMP, the 41-year-old showed signs of alcohol impairment and refused to provide a breath sample at the scene. While it's only an allegation, impairment might help explain the questionable choices up to this point.

According to officers, the man is prohibited from driving for 90 days and must pay for the various fines and violations he collected that day. While they didn't list out the charges, the refusal to take a breath test automatically allowed the officers to impose that driving ban. In addition, it gave the officers the right to impound the bike, though the duration of that penalty is unclear. All told, the alleged attempt to keep the bike ended with the rider losing access to it and his driving privileges.

That's a pretty poor return on the effort. In addition, it's possible that the rider is facing more charges that we aren't privy to. Along with being illegal to ride this kind of e-bike on roads or bike lanes, police can also charge a person with additional fines, depending on the violations. The fine for driving without a license, for example, is CA$276 and driving without insurance, a common issue in New Mexico as it turns out, is another CA$598. All of this is just one more good reminder to avoid doing illegal things on the road and, when pulled over, try to let the officer do the predicting.