Two years into a provincial pilot project, data on injuries and crashes remains incomplete.
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Dr. Navid Dehghani can’t think of a recent day when staff in the emergency department at Surrey Memorial Hospital haven’t had to treat a child injured while riding an e-scooter.
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“We often see multiple in a day, especially on warmer days,” said the head of the hospital’s pediatric emergency department.
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As spring brings sunshine and longer days, B.C. doctors, police and parents are sounding the alarm about the number of kids they have observed riding e-scooters and the risks they face. But several years since the micro-mobility devices began appearing on B.C. streets — and two years after the province began a pilot project to determine whether they should be authorized for permanent use — data about who is riding them and the number of crashes and injuries remains incomplete.
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B.C. laws prohibit e-scooter use on roads and sidewalks unless they are one of the 34 communities taking part in a provincial pilot project. Communities that have chosen not to participate in the pilot include Surrey, New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, Abbotsford and Mission. In all communities, they are restricted to those 16 or older.
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But it’s not unusual to see youths riding e-scooters on streets and sidewalk across the Metro region.
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“You just have to take a walk outside to see multiple infractions,” said Dehghani.
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Injuries tend to be “high impact,” he said, ranging from broken bones and concussions to more serious injuries to the neck or chest. Boys tend to show up at the hospital more frequently, with many patients between the ages of 11 and 15. Because e-scooters are still relatively new technology, there continues to be difficulties coding them in hospital computer systems.
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When Postmedia approached B.C. health officials to ask for injury data in September 2024, doctors could only speak anecdotally about e-scooters. One year later, in the fall of 2025, Trauma Services B.C. said there has been a “clear upward trend in e-scooter-related injuries among children and youth,” with the number of youths with severe injuries rising from fewer than five cases in 2021 to 10 cases in 2024. It remains unknown how many children sustain less-severe injuries, although it is likely to be in the hundreds given the observations of doctors.
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ICBC was also unable to provide information on the number of crashes involving vehicles and e-scooters. Both last year and again this week, a spokesperson said they continue to be unable to separate micro-mobility users involved in crashes from cyclists and pedestrians.
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Police said they have seen more crashes and road incidents as the weather has gotten warmer. A growing number of riders in Chilliwack, which is part of the provincial pilot, have been observed driving at illegal or unsafe speeds, riding without a helmet or doubling, according to a news release from the Upper Fraser Valley RCMP.
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Cpl. Carmen Kiener said enforcement is only one part of preventing further collisions and injuries.
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“Wearing a helmet, slowing down and following the rules can be the difference between a close call and a fatal outcome,” she said. “We also encourage parents and guardians to take an active role in their children’s safety. We commonly see youth riding scooters and bikes without helmets, and sometimes with the helmet hanging from the handlebars instead of being worn.”
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A recent crash involving two children on an e-scooter left many parents in North Burnaby shaken, said social media influencer Tara Jensen, who runs the website British Columbia Mom. Because there are many hills in the area, e-scooters have become particularly popular for youths who walk home from school, and it is not unusual to see them riding on sidewalks, the side of the road, or in groups in traffic.
