Markets 
Pediatricians are urging better tracking of e-scooter and e-bike injuries after a report shows a “significant number” of severe injuries and deaths among youth who used them last year.
The report, released by the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program (CPSP), showed data from a survey of pediatricians in 2025. It showed 48 cases of serious injuries or deaths reported. These included 26 cases of hospitalizations lasting more than two days and 12 ICU admissions. There were nine other cases that the report said could not be classified.
But Dr. Daniel Rosenfield said the data showed 10 deaths from personal powered micromobility devices (PPMD) incidents, which he said is some of the first data of youth fatalities aside from media and police reports.
“People don’t associate these devices with fatalities, right,” Rosenfield said in an interview. “As the usage of these devices goes up, which we can tell by the number of kids coming in with minor or moderate injuries, then the number of fatalities will also go up.”
E-scooters were the most used device reported among the injuries or deaths.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information showed similar data, with 53 injuries requiring hospitalizations among youth ages five to 17 between 2023 and 2024.
Among the most common injuries found in the CPSP’s data were to the head at 47 per cent and limbs at 40 per cent.
“So the majority of severely injured people are due to head injuries and remember these aren’t injuries that you can walk away from. These people will often have a permanent disability,” Rosenfield said.
Youth aged 10 to 15 were 42 per cent of the cases reported by pediatricians or emergency physicians, with 18 per cent among those five to nine years old. According to the data, the average age for incidents was 10 to 12.
Rosenfield said the issue is complex, but doesn’t blame government for a patchwork of rules surrounding the operation of e-bikes and e-scooters by youth.
Get daily National news
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.
In Ontario, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia, youth must be 16 or older to ride a standard e-bike, but other provinces have lower limits such as 15 or 14, or none at all. Quebec has an age limit of 18, but those with a Class 6D licence for mopeds or scooters can ride starting at 14.
For e-scooters, Ontario, P.E.I., Saskatchewan and B.C., again, have firm age limits of 16, but others like Quebec and Nova Scotia set it at 14.
Alberta and Saskatchewan ban e-scooters altogether from public roads, but municipal bylaws allow for their public use in those specific towns and cities like Edmonton or Saskatoon. Both provinces don’t have a specific age limit, leaving it up to municipalities.
The one common factor in many provinces regarding the devices is whether youth or adult, a helmet is required.
Though he doesn’t blame governments, Rosenfield said standardization of rules across the country would be helpful. In the interim, though, what should be focused on is education, enforcement and engineering, he said.
“There’s no amount of regulations that will make these safe and no amount of educational campaigns to get everyone to be aware of the potential risks,” Rosenfield said. “We have to really start at the absolute top and design a safer vehicle and create standards that mandate that across the country.”
Amid calls for strengthened safety regulations, a few provinces say they’re taking new action or are considering potential changes.
Nova Scotia announced last week that it plans to ban children under 14 from riding electric bikes this fall.
Alberta says it is amending its Traffic Safety Act to “build a modernized and safer transportation system.”
“As part of these amendments, Alberta is considering a provincial framework to support the safe and consistent use of personal micromobility devices, such as e-Scooters and similar small devices, where municipalities enforce and choose to allow them,” a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation told Global News in an email.
Newfoundland and Labrador Minister of Government Services Mike Goosney said in an email that the province is working with other jurisdictions and safety partners to determine the “best approach” to regulating the devices.
“Public consultations will soon be starting, and this feedback will help inform legislative amendments that I intend to bring forward for the fall sitting of the House of Assembly,” Goosney said.
Global News reached out to Transport Canada to inquire if the federal government has considered working with provinces and territories in finding a standard across the country.
Police in Toronto have also launched a two-week enforcement campaign focused on the vehicles, as collisions involving micromobility devices have increased. According to police, there were 514 reported micromobility-related collisions involving youth and adults in Toronto this year so far, including two deaths involving e-scooters.
“Through our enforcement and education efforts, we’re working to improve awareness and encourage safer use of these devices for everyone on our roads, sidewalks and pathways,” a spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service said.
That education is still important, with Rosenfield saying if you’re going to ride these, wear a helmet, don’t ride at excessive speed, and with e-scooters, don’t put two people on one device.
“That’s not an accident, that was completely preventable and predictable,” he said.
—with files from Global News’ Katherine Ward
Read the full article here
