B.C. senior hurt in crash wants tougher rules for e-scooters

A North Vancouver woman wants to see more regulation for electric scooters, after being seriously injured in a collision last month.

Cullen Goodyear is 75 years old, and until last month was training for an Ironman triathlon.

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That changed on July 8, when she was riding a bike near Lost Lagoon and was struck from behind by someone on an e-scooter.

“(He) smashed into me just as I was about to make my turn going quite fast, and down I went and my hip was broken,” she told Global News.

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The collision left her in the hospital with a hip fracture and punctures to her lower left leg, ultimately requiring two hip surgeries.

Goodyear wants to see the province draft tougher rules for people who use such devices.

“They can go way too fast, they can go anywhere they want,” she said. “There needs to be some sort of legislation to limit their access to people … some sort of driver’s-ed or licence necessary in order to be able to run one.”

The person who struck Goodyear apologized afterwards, but is not facing any penalty.

British Columbia does have regulations in place governing the use of electric scooters, under a pilot project launched in 2021.

Eight B.C. municipalities, including Vancouver, have signed on to the pilot and drafted bylaws governing their use. It is currently illegal to operate an e-scooter on the road in cities that aren’t a part of the pilot and don’t have bylaws.

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Under Vancouver’s bylaw, e-scooters must obey a speed limit of 24 km/h, and must not have motors with power output exceeding 500W. Scooters must have a braking system, and riders must be at least 16 years old, use lights after dark and stay off sidewalks. The pilot also requires riders to stick to minor roads and protected bike lanes.

“Our officers do have authority to stop people on e-scooters, especially if they are behaving in erratic or unsafe ways,” Vancouver police Const. Tania Visintin said, adding that e-scooters are essentially treated like cyclists. “But first and foremost our goal is education and providing information to those riding scooters all the rules of the road and how to stay safe.”

Goodyear, for her part, wants to see a tougher stance — both when it comes to regulation, and to enforcement.

“I’ve seen like 12 year olds zooming around on the Lonsdale Street on an electric scooter and electric bikes, and they don’t care,” she said. “People will not take the responsibility unless they know it’s going to be enforced.”