Bicycle safety starts with obeying the Highway Safety Code and adopting defensive cycling behaviours. When riding an electric bike, wearing a helmet is mandatory. Be cautious!
The Highway Safety Code requires that cyclists:
The Code prohibits cyclists from:
See our section on What the Law Says.
Wearing a bicycle helmet and obeying road safety rules is mandatory when riding an electric bike.
Check with your municipality to know whether you can ride your electric bike on bike paths.
The helmet must not tilt too low on your forehead or the back of your head. There should be room for the width of two fingers between your eyebrows and the helmet. The straps should form a “Y” shape under the earlobes. A properly adjusted buckle should leave room for one finger between the strap and your chin.
To be compliant, your helmet must display one of these acronyms: CSACanadian Standards Association, CPSCU. S. Consumer Product Safety Commision , ASTMAmerican Society for Testing and Materials, ENEuropean Committee for Standardization or SNELLSnell Memorial Foundation. These appear on the inside of the helmet or on its packaging and guarantee that the helmet meets performance standards, including resistance to impact.
See our section entitled One Head, One Helmet.
Find out more about blind spots.
When riding your bicycle on the road or a bike path, you must share the road with other users. Do so with respect and courtesy.
When going down a hill or on an electric bicycle, a cyclist can reach a considerable speed.
Even an excellent cyclist with an excellent bicycle is not immune to the laws of physics. When speed increases, the risks of causing an accident increase as well, and the higher the speed, the more severe the accident.
Last update: May 19, 2022