Is your driver’s license suspended? Don’t touch that E-bike!

The individual in this case was driving an e-bike on a local road with a suspended driver’s license. He was pulled over and charged with ‘driving while disqualified’. He argued that the device he was driving was a power-assisted bicycle and that his prohibition from driving did not prevent him from operating his e-bike since the Highway Traffic Act did not require drivers of e-bikes to be licensed. The trial judge held that the device the appellant was driving was not a power-assisted bicycle because its pedals were not operable and the device was, thus, not capable of being propelled by muscular power. The appeal judge agreed with the trial judge’s conclusion that the appellant was driving a motor vehicle as defined by the Criminal Code. The appellant proposed again to advance the argument that the prohibition did not apply as he required no license under the Highway Traffic Act, but he was unsuccessful.

R. v. Pizzacalla, 2014 ONCA 706

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Take a look at the link below:
http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2014/2014onca706/2014onca706.html