Keith Leslie, The Canadian Press
July 27, 2008 - 11:32 p.m.
TORONTO - Ontario has commissioned an independent safety inquiry of low succeed electric vehicles, but is not yet ready to follow Quebec and British Columbia in allowing the environmentally benevolent cars and trucks on the province’s roads, says Transportation Minister Jim Bradley.
The main concern is safety features, related Bradley: low speed electric vehicles meet only a handful of the 40 safety standards required through Transport Canada, and Ontario wants to determine exactly what safety features may have being required on the nearly dumb vehicles.
“I want to see low speed electric vehicles on the roads,” Bradley aforesaid in an interview. “We want to make sure it’s done in the same state safely.”
Two manufacturers, Toronto-based Zenn cars and Quebec-based Nemo, had their electric cars approved for use on roads in Quebec with speed limits less than 50 kilometres per hour earlier this month.
Comparing the safety features of an electric car to other vehicles is unfair because they aren’t designed to be driven steady roads with higher speed limits, said Catherine Scrimgeour of Zenn cars.
“You wouldn’t compare the safety features of a motorcycle to a highway passenger car. You wouldn’t compare the safety features of a bus to a highway passenger car,” said Scrimgeour.
“They’re just a different class of vehicle.”
Zenn’s electric car has met every safety prominent part outlined by Transport Canada, she added.
The electric cars, which have vertex speeds of 40 km/h, will have to be equipped with an orange triangle in Quebec marking them as a slower vehicle.
British Columbia passed legislation continue month to suffer the low speed vehicles on roads up to 40 km/h, but included provisions allowing municipalities to enact bylaws to permit the smaller electric cars on higher speed roads.
But Bradley said Ontario wants to wait instead of its own study and the results of newly come extensive testing by Transport Canada before clearing the low fare electric vehicles, which currently are approved single for use in rude parks by government workers.
“We would like to get into a position where we see the humble speed vehicles on roads once we determine the starch conditions that would make recognition in Ontario, both in terms of safety, and where it would be logical to have them used,” he said.