As long as the powers that be agree, motorcycle law activist Denise Lodge will join Kitimat councillors at the upcoming September Union of B.C. Municipalities conference in Vancouver.
Denise Lodge submitted a letter to council on May 21, asking for support from them to encourage the government to establish graduated learning program for motorcycles, as well as implement power restrictions.
Through her letter, she said the program is almost ready to go, but just needs a solicitor general or the minister of justice and attorney general to back the plan.
She had expected the programs to have already been put into place, however it has been delayed at the provincial level.
In a letter from the superintendent of motor vehicles to Lodge, he writes that “after further analysis, we have found that the nature of these changes will require significant changes to technology and business processes, which in turn will impact implementation time.”
That said, the writer, Steve Martin, does say that graduated licencing and power restrictions on motorcycles do remain a high priority for himself and the ministry.
Council at their June 3 meeting passed a resolution to request meetings with relevant ministries to discuss this issue, and to ask that Lodge be allowed to join.
While staff had recommended that a travel subsidy not be provided to Lodge (as it would not meet established District policy), she did end up getting her request for assistance and will receive $500 to help her travel.
Lodge has been campaigning for more stringent motorcycle regulations ever since her son Corey died in a motorcycle accident in 2005.
Lodge said that inexperience combined with his purchase of a high powered bike contributed to the fatal accident.