Underage operators, lack of helmets, unpredictable and dangerous interactions with vehicles and pedestrians, and an upward tick in injuries are some of the issues Gimli resident Bill Buckels would like to see addressed with regard to electric scooters.
Buckels is calling on the RM of Gimli and the provincial government to address the current “regulatory vacuum” in Manitoba and escalating injury rates associated with two-wheeled e-scooters.
The use of the motorized vehicles has “outpaced” the development of regulations, and Buckels is advocating for a municipal ban of e-scooters on public roads, sidewalks and pathways.
Buckels told the Express last week he has seen and encountered e-scooters in Gimli being driven by underage kids on sidewalks and roads with vehicular traffic.
“They’ve gone right down Autumnwood Drive at around 2 a.m.,” said Buckels referring to e-scooter incidents in July. “They’re also doing it in broad daylight. I just about ran into a bunch of them coming down the road near the Klean-All [laundromat on Third Avenue]. They were coming right towards me while I was driving, no helmets on, short pants, underage kids, and here they are driving right down a paved road through Gimli, obstructing licensed traffic on the road.”
Just recently, Buckels said a youngster, maybe 11 or 12 years old, was travelling about “25 clicks” down a sidewalk in Gimli.
“They’re getting away with zooming down sidewalks because there’s no bylaw against it and no one is enforcing this activity, including their parents,” said Buckels. “These kids are driving e-scooters down the sidewalk and I have to stumble around them to get out of the way. They’re causing an obstruction and a hazard on the sidewalk.”
E-scooters are not a going concern in Gimli neighbourhoods that have had no municipal paving services such as the South Beach neighbourhood, he said. But in neighbourhoods that have paved roads and sidewalks, e-scooter operators can likely be found.
Buckels wrote a white paper titled “Mitigating E-scooter Risks in Gimli: A Proactive Approach” in July and shared it with the municipality and the provincial government after encounters with kids on e-scooters.
Even at moderate speeds, e-scooters are no match for a vehicle and collisions can result in serious or life-altering injuries for their operators. Children and adolescents may lack experience, judgment and the physical development necessary for safe navigation in traffic, he wrote.
The presence of fast-moving e-scooters on Gimli roads causes “stress” to and introduces “unpredictability” for people driving vehicles as they have to react instantly to e-scooters not following the rules of the road.
E-scooter regulations vary across Canadian jurisdictions, wrote Buckels, with some provinces mandating helmets for all operators while others requiring helmets only for minors. Some cities have launched pilot projects to assess e-scooter integration into existing transportation routes as they’re viewed as a sustainable mode of transportation while other cities have implemented strict controls over them because of accidents and their being regarded as a public nuisance. In Europe, some cities have imposed speed limits on e-scooters, relegated them to bike lanes or banned them altogether because of accidents.
Rising e-scooter-related hospitalizations and fatalities among youth serve as a stark warning, wrote Buckels. Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) show an “escalating public health crisis” associated with e-scooter use.
Over the course of a one-year period, between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, there were almost 1,000 Canadians hospitalized for e-scooter related injuries. That represented a 23 per cent increase over the previous year. Half of those injuries (498) were directly attributed to e-scooters, representing a 32 per cent increase in hospitalizations. E-scooter hospitalizations of children aged five to 17 increased 61 per cent.
Injuries ranged from minor abrasions and bone fractures to brain injuries and internal bleeding.
“Specific comparative national statistics on e-scooter versus e-bike fatalities are not always cleanly separated in public health data, as both fall under broader categories of ‘scooter’ or ‘micromobility’ injuries,” wrote Buckels in his study. “However, the CIHI data specifically highlight the disproportionate rise in hospitalizations related to motorized e-scooters and the concerning trend among children. While e-bikes also pose risks, particularly when used improperly or at high speeds, the inherent instability and common lack of protective gear associated with e-scooters appear to contribute to a higher severity of injury for operators, especially in collisions with motor vehicles. The design of many e-scooters, without seats or the ability to easily signal, further exacerbates risk in traffic.”
In the absence of provincial and municipal regulations for e-scooters, Buckels said “anybody can get away with driving an e-scooter,” on a road or a sidewalk or other public thoroughfare such as a path. But that doesn’t mean they’re “allowed” to do so. For instance, if someone drove an e-scooter down Highway 8, they’d likely face stiff penalties. Yet enforcement on roads in the municipality where they ride among traffic and can collide with vehicles, and drive on sidewalks where they can injure pedestrians, is seemingly non-existent.
When e-scooters pose hazards on roads and sidewalks – and given the data showing increasing rates of hospitalization related to their use – it’s time to “use our heads” and come up with regulations as who can operate them and where they can be driven, he said.
“I guess someone has to be seriously hurt or die before regulations are put in place,” said Buckels.
E-scooter operators at fault for accidents resulting in injury or property damage to a vehicle, pedestrian or cyclist can be held civilly liable for damages. Or their parents can be held financially liable, he said.
“This can arise under principles of ‘negligent entrustment’ where parents permit a child to operate a potentially dangerous device when they know or ought to know the child is inexperienced, incapable, or likely to operate it unsafely,” wrote Buckels in his study. “Parents may also be held vicariously liable for their child’s actions, particularly if they are found to have failed in their supervisory duty. The financial implications for parents could be substantial, encompassing medical costs, lost income, and pain and suffering for injured parties.”
Theoretically, e-scooters on the road can also be considered an “obstruction” under the Highway Traffic Act, he said, and be held liable for accidents.
“If a rock falls on the road from a truck and collides with a car and kills somebody, the truck driver is responsible for having created an obstruction – and subsequently an injury,” said Buckels. “It’s the same with a parent who gives their kid an e-scooter: if the kid causes an obstruction on the road either by suddenly popping up in front of a vehicle or by sliding under the wheels of a vehicle because they lose their balance, their parents should be liable.”
Similarly, municipalities – and the province – can also be exposed to potential legal liability, he argued, through the “absence of clear bylaws and robust enforcement” of e-scooter use. Municipalities have a “fundamental duty of care” to ensure the reasonable safety of their public spaces, including roads and sidewalks.
“If the Municipality of Gimli is aware of dangerous e-scooter activity (e.g., observed underage, unhelmeted riders on main roads) and fails to implement or enforce adequate bylaws to address it, it could be found negligent,” wrote Buckels. “This negligence could lead to civil lawsuits from individuals injured in e-scooter-related accidents, alleging that the municipality failed in its duty to protect the public. The increasing national data on e-scooter injuries establishes a clear foreseeability of harm, meaning municipalities cannot claim ignorance of the risks.”
The “regulatory vacuum” in the provincial Highway Traffic Act which lacks “actionable regulations” for the safe use of e-scooters can be seen as contributing to a dangerous environment, he said.
Buckels said he’s not trying to ruin anybody’s fun; he just wants to eliminate the chances of dangerous encounters between e-scooters and pedestrians in Gimli.
“The analogy of sharing roads with individuals on e-roller skates [or] walking dogs amidst heavy highway traffic on a long weekend vividly illustrates the inherent danger and absurdity of allowing unregulated devices driven by inexperienced individuals on public roadways,” wrote Buckels. “It highlights the fundamental incompatibility of these vehicles with a safe and orderly traffic environment, especially in rural settings where dedicated infrastructure is limited.”
The Express reached out to Gimli council asking what it’s hearing from other residents regarding e-scooters, whether it feels public safety with regard to e-scooters driving down sidewalks and public roads falls under its purview and whether it’s willing to ban e-scooters from public thoroughfares, among other questions.
Council did not respond.
A provincial spokesperson said the government is looking at ways to establish regulations for e-scooter use.
“E-scooters are not currently regulated under the Highway Traffic Act, and there are no specific enforcement measures or municipal by-laws in place at this time in Manitoba,” said the spokesperson. “As the use of e-scooters continues to grow, the Manitoba government is actively exploring options to establish a regulatory framework to guide their safe and responsible use across the province.”
