With the increasing prevalence of e-scooters in Canada, medical professionals are sounding the alarm on a rise in injuries, particularly among younger individuals, as regulations struggle to keep up.
Dr. Daniel Rosenfield, a pediatric emergency physician at SickKids hospital in Toronto and chair of the injury prevention committee for the Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS), has witnessed a significant surge in various types of injuries resulting from e-scooter accidents, ranging from minor cuts to severe brain trauma and fatalities.
Rosenfield noted that severe injuries from e-scooter incidents were previously rare occurrences but have now become more frequent. He mentioned that the number of e-scooter injury cases at SickKids escalated from 26 in 2023 to 46 in 2024 and 107 in 2025, with a projection for even higher numbers this year.
A survey of Canadian doctors suggests severe injuries and deaths are rising among kids and teens who ride e-scooters. Doctors warn that e-scooters are ‘anything but toys,’ and that too many young people are riding at high speeds without helmets.
According to Dr. Laurie Plotnick, who leads the emergency trauma team at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, e-scooter injuries have surged tenfold since 2023. She highlighted severe facial injuries, broken jaws, and brain trauma among children who were injured without involving another vehicle.
These trends are consistent nationwide and globally. A recent CPS survey of Canadian pediatric specialists reported 10 fatalities, 12 ICU admissions, and 26 hospitalizations lasting over two days due to e-scooter crashes in the past year, with head injuries prevalent in about half of the cases.
Dr. Rosenfield emphasized that the majority, if not all, of these cases involved individuals not wearing helmets, with the most severe injuries typically affecting boys aged 10 to 15.
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E-scooter rider taken to out-of-region hospital after being hit by an SUV in Waterloo
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