E-scooter injuries on the rise; doctors preach caution this summer
Medical experts are warning Canadians to slow down and plan ahead amidst a rise in e-scooter injuries across the country.
Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows hospitalizations related to e-scooter injuries rose 22 per cent in Canada during the 12-month period starting April 1, 2023.
In that time, 992 Canadian riders had to see a doctor—including 234 Albertans.
'We've been seeing people who are intoxicated with either alcohol or drugs and they're double-riding, overestimating their skill or underestimating the speed they're going,' said Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, urgent care physician.
'And then we see big collisions: with cars, pedestrians, curbs, light poles, things like that. That's where the big trauma comes in.'
Bhardwaj says in Calgary, the most common e-scooter injuries he treats are fractures—typically broken wrists or ankles.
But some injuries go far beyond that.
'We've seen broken jaws, total facial smashes where people have a lot of dental work to get done, spine injuries, sometimes neck injuries,' he said.
'We've also seen liver lacerations and spleen lacerations.'
Bhardwaj says the CIHI data doesn't paint the entire picture, as some riders don't admit themselves to the hospital after a crash.
Rider Jan Lopez says she understands the injury uptick.
'More inexperienced people are riding the e-scooters and just don't understand the dangers,' Lopez told CTV News Calgary.
'One wrong move—one awkward rock in the wrong place—and you can easily fall.
'It looks just like a fun toy that you can play around with, but they're actually really dangerous.'
E-scooter companies recommend helmets.
Some brands—like Neuron in Calgary—even come equipped with the headgear.
Bhardwaj advocates for sober and single riding.
He also wants to see further development of infrastructure to accommodate an influx of new users.
'If we want to make the scooter safer, we need to make traffic safer,' he said.
'We need to make more bike lanes and more multi-use paths, and then the scooters aren't hitting people on the sidewalk, and they're not hitting cars on the road or being hit by cars on the road.'
The physician also urges new riders to practice navigating e-scooters on pathways out of high-traffic areas before heading to busy spots.
'Spend the money to learn for five minutes first,' he said.
'We see a lot of first-time users get injured because they're just not familiar with it.'
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