Cycling advocacy was a year of change in New Brunswick following the tragic incident involving Ellen Watters in late 2016.

Notable achievements and events that took place throughout the year included the following;

Rallies in Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton attended by hundreds to support the passage of EllensLaw a comprehensive update of the Motor Vehicle Act to improve cycling safety in New Brunswick,

Presentation of a petition to the NB Legislature in the Spring Of 2017 signed by thousands of New Brunswickers supporting EllensLaw

January 12th Meeting in Fredericton attended by Velo NB, members of the NB Cycling Coalition, Government Ministers, MLA’s and senior civil servants to discuss EllensLaw and cycling safety,

Swift passage of the government’s version of EllensLaw, a one metre law which made it mandatory for vehicles to provide at least one metre of space when vehicles are passing cyclists on NB roads.

Establishment of a committee by the NB government with a six month mandate to study cycling safety in NB. This committee while not meeting its six month mandate continues to meet with the goal of updating legislation governing cycling, issuing a new Cycling Handbook and establishing an ongoing consultative process between cyclists and the NB government. We have open ears from a variety of governmental departments at the table hearing out plea. Department of Justice and Public Safety, Tourism and Sport, Transportation and Infrastructure and law enforcement just to name a few.

Distribution of 180 helmets throughout the Province on behalf of the NB Trauma Program to assist low income New Brunswick cyclists.

Looking forward to 2018 we will continue to meet with the government to complete our review of cycling safety in NB, and update the Velo NB website with an Incident reporting page, and continued work for cycling advocacy.

Wayne Arrowsmith

Advocacy Chair