Get kids' bikes off the street, says Cycling PEI

Cycling PEI wants to give children in the province the opportunity to bicycle on the sidewalk, rather than on streets and highways.

The Highway Traffic Act bans all bikes from sidewalks, but Cycling PEI says that creates safety issues.

"It doesn't make any sense to have a four-, five-, six-year old child riding on the highway, or on any roads, even if they're quiet roads. It makes more sense to have them on something separated, such as a sidewalk," said Cycling PEI executive director Mike Connolly.

"We'd like to see a wheel variance or a speed variance, or even an age variance, some kind of an exception."

A second effort

The group first asked for changes six years ago, but no changes were made.

Connolly recently brought the issue up again during a provincial standing committee that was looking at active transportation.

Connolly said he has sent the requested for changes to the Transportation Department deputy minister.

The department told CBC News it is considering amendments to the legislation that deal with bicycles.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Voter turnout in electoral reform plebiscite remains low
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Deuce is Loose, Jig the Joker, Catch the King of Clubs: Eastern P.E.I.'s love of lucky community fundraisers