At the height of summer, e-scooters are out in full swing in the streets of Montreal.
But the Montreal Children’s Hospital is warning of the dangers of using the mode of transportation, as it reports an increase in injuries related to e-scooters.
In the past three months, the hospital has seen seven cases. That’s up from a total of eight last year.
“The types of injuries we see are head injuries, broken bones, things like that. The more serious ones are the head injuries and head injuries are quite common,” said Liane Fransblow, the trauma co-ordinator at the Montreal Children’s Injury Prevention Program.
Fransblow says their ERs are seeing children as young as five years old who were not wearing helmets.
As the popularity of e-scooters increases, she says she expects to see more injuries, unless things change in Quebec.
“Based on the European Transport Safety Council, they recommend a minimum age of 16. They also recommend a minimum speed of 20 kilometres an hour,” Fransblow said.
The use of e-scooters on bike paths is allowed in Quebec as part of a three-year pilot project started by Transports Quebec last year.
Children over 14 years old are allowed to use one as long as they wear a helmet and ride under 25 kilometres per hour.
“Part of the pilot project is to gather more information, gather more data and at the end of this, we might say maybe 14 year-olds was too young, we need to bring it up to 16,” said Louis-André Bertrand, a spokesperson for Transports Quebec.
Transports Quebec says its data doesn’t show a significant spike in injuries but if it does happen during the pilot project, it will adjust.
Meanwhile, both the province and the hospital are urging people to inform themselves and respect the rules in place.
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