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Sep 12, 2023

Vehicle bike racks are getting bigger — and that's a concern for Calgary police

Calgary police are warning drivers with bulky new bike racks that they can be

Calgary police are warning drivers with bulky new bike racks that they can be ticketed for obscuring licence plates.

Bike rack design has changed in recent years, partly to accommodate heavy e-bikes. That means some models now completely cover up licence plates.

It might not be top of mind for cyclists, but police say they should be using licence plate mounts on bike racks to make their plates visible at all times, whether carrying bikes or not.

"Obviously we encourage an active and healthy lifestyle, but the obligation is on drivers to keep your licence plate visible at all times," said Sgt. Dale Seddon with the Calgary Police Service.

"The expectation now is, because it's becoming much more commonplace, that drivers start looking into making sure that licence plate is mounted in a manner where it's clear and visible," he said.

Sgt. Seddon says that while police prefer education over enforcement, they can still hand out $162 tickets for non-compliance.

"We would encourage you to get an alternate mounted plate for your bike rack," he said.

Bike stores in the city say racks have changed over the years and some are a lot bigger than they used to be.

"It's gotten a lot more advanced, people are taking more bikes with them and using their vehicles," said Brad Randall, manager at Ridley's Cycle in Westhills.

"E-bikes are 40 or 50 pounds, so they need to make racks a lot more robust as well, which means that overall the size of them is getting a lot larger," he said.

While they're bigger, they're now also lighter, with some made from aluminum instead of heavy duty steel.

Randall says licence plate visibility isn't really on customers' radars when they come to buy a new rack.

"Other countries are a lot more strict and concerned about visible licence plates, and licence mounts here are currently still an add-on product," said Randall.

He says licence plate mounts aren't a big seller.

"It's usually about the functionality rather than worrying about licence plates being visible," he said. "And it's on us to educate our customers."

Sgt. Seddon says most bike shops in the city sell mounting hardware for bike racks and he'd like to see more people using them.

Journalist

Dan McGarvey is a mobile journalist focused on filing stories remotely for CBC Calgary's web, radio, TV and social media platforms, using only an iPhone and mobile tech. His work is used by mobile journalism (mojo) trainers and educators around the world. Dan is largely focused on sharing stories from under-reported communities and groups in Calgary and southern Alberta. You can email story ideas and tips to Dan at [email protected].