Road safety rules can’t keep up to EVs

Advancing technologies require new regulations, legislation

Overall conclusions

The evaluation found that there is a clear need for Road Safety programming in Canada to help reduce road-related injuries and deaths but that new technologies, static staffing levels, and limitations with data collection are challenging TC’s ability to create and update regulations, conduct certain types of oversight, identify and respond to defects, and target funding through transfer payment programs.

The current operating model of the MVTC provides good value and enables high quality work; however, given the complexity of the work conducted, costs are high with few opportunities to reduce/offset them.

Lastly, Road Safety programs currently have difficulty with recruitment and retention, leading to capacity issues. It is recommended that TC’s Road Safety programs explore ways to collect more timely and complete data by collaborating with other Canadian road safety organizations to enhance TC’s ability to obtain insights from the National Collision Database (NCDB) and to support evidence-based decision making.

–Transport Canada, Evaluation of Road Safety Programs 2025

Road safety regulations have failed to keep pace with hazards posed by weighty electric vehicles, says the Department of Transport. Large batteries add tonnes to the weight of a motor vehicle representing a “key factor” in collisions, said a report covered by Blacklock’s Reporter on October 15th, 2025.

“Electrification of motor vehicles was flagged as a key factor influencing road safety and the motor vehicle industry,” said the report Evaluation Of Road Safety Programs. Added weight of electric vehicles had made regulations obsolete, the report said said.

“The significant weight of electric vehicle batteries creates unique safety considerations,” said Evaluation. “Electric vehicles can outweigh similarly sized gas-powered cars by hundreds of pounds, creating safety risks in a collision with a lighter vehicle. Their increased weight also means some heavier models may fall outside of Transport Canada’s testing standards altogether.”

An electric Ford F-150 pickup can weigh 6,015 pounds or 2.7 metric tonnes, about 50 percent more than a standard gasoline powered F-150, according to Kelly Blue Book. The Tesla Cybertruck weighs 6,603 pounds or three tonnes. “The GMC Hummer EV SUV at over 9,000 pounds tops the electric vehicle weight charts,” the equivalent of four tonnes, Blacklock’s notes.

The transport department report quoted one unidentified manager as complaining regulations were never presumed to apply to three or four tonne passenger vehicles. “Electric vehicles are getting heavier and our performance requirements are based on weight,” the manager was quoted by Blacklock’s. “It can get to a point where they’re not even subject to the requirements anymore because they are past the point.”

The Department of Environment in mandating electric vehicle sales quotas made only passing reference to road safety considerations. A 2022 Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement acknowledged insurance payouts were higher for electric vehicles since they “tend to be heavier due to the weight of batteries on board.”

The report’s findings were listed as:

Findings

1. There is an ongoing need for TC’s road safety programming to ensure the safety of Canadians while keeping pace with a quickly evolving motor vehicle industry.
2. While the National Collision Database (NCDB) is an essential tool for quantifying and qualifying trends in road safety outcomes over time, challenges with national data collection and timeliness limit its utility.
3. Road Safety’s Regulations function is struggling to keep pace with the rate of change and innovation in the motor vehicle industry (e.g., Connected & Automated Vehicles, Electric Vehicles, micromobility devices), leading to a backlog of unaddressed regulatory files.
4. The Enforcement function is also impacted by unaddressed regulatory files and increasingly complex vehicle technologies.
5. Capacity and resourcing issues are taking away from Road Safety’s ability to complete tasks expeditiously, given the regulatory backlog and the cascading workload impacts on the Oversight and Enforcement team.
6. The contractor for the MVTC provides a high quality of work at a fair rate but there are limited opportunities to reduce/recover the costs of running the Centre.
7. There is a continued need for RSTPP funding for provinces and territories to support a consistent approach to commercial vehicle safety.