Editor: It was bound to happen. After a summer of observing the uncontrolled and dangerous use of E-scooters on local venues, I witnessed an accident and near-miss. While walking on the sidewalk near a local high school, two young students riding next to the sidewalk on the edge of the street (15 feet away from me) crashed and fell off their scooter into traffic. A vehicle following closely had to swerve around them to avoid a secondary collision. Fortunately the students got up on their own and did not appear to have any serious injuries, but they were the lucky ones. CTV news in Windsor recently reported a serious collision between a vehicle and a 15-year-old teenager on an E-scooter. The youth was rushed to hospital with significant injuries and is in serious condition.
When are people going to wake up and realize that we have a serious problem on our streets and sidewalks?
Last month, the Chatham-Kent Police Service issued a statement reminding residents that “the municipality (Chatham-Kent) has not currently opted into a provincial pilot program” which would require the municipality to “formally implement bylaws before E-scooters are permitted for use under the pilot.” They added that “ownership does not necessarily mean they can be legally operated on public property within Chatham-Kent” and encouraged residents to “familiarize themselves with the laws and municipal regulations governing the use electric scooters (E-scooters), electric bicycles (E-bikes) and other devices.”
While it was nice to see the police finally enter the fray of madness we are seeing on our local pathways, they could have been clearer in their message. Bottom line, these vehicles are illegal in Chatham-Kent and expecting people to “do their own research” to understand this is asking a lot these days.
What is needed is a very clear reminder of what the rule of law in Ontario and Chatham-Kent is around the use of E-scooters. So here it is, in blunt terms:
- E-scooters are only legal in municipalities that have opted in and are participating in Ontario’s pilot program which has strict rules on their use. In non-participating municipalities – like Chatham-Kent – their use is prohibited on public roads, sidewalks, bike lanes, trails, paths, and parks.
In other words, none of the E-scooter use that we are witnessing on all of our public pathways in Chatham-Kent is legal. Their use, however, is not the only concern. How they are being used is a bigger concern
In the pilot program, all users must be 16 years of age or older. All users under 18 years of age must wear a helmet. No passengers. Maximum speed of 24 km/h.
This means that the E-scooter use we are observing in C-K is not only illegal on many fronts, it is also frighteningly unsafe and dangerous. In most cases, E-scooter riders are younger than 16, many have no helmets, some are barefoot, and all of them travel well above 24 km/h. At these speeds, and without any protection there WILL be serious injury on our local pathways.
This has all the makings of a legal nightmare with the municipality defending lawsuits for injuries or even negligence in enforcing the Ontario laws.
It is parents who have the most control in this situation. These are not toys, and telling Johnny to be careful and to wear a helmet does not make them safe, or legal.
Thank you to the police for coming out with the statement. Some enforcement and creating awareness would also help.
Hospitals and doctors across our country are raising alarms about the surging injury cases that they are seeing come into our hospitals. Of the injuries, fractures, head injuries and brain injuries were the most common. None of this should surprise anyone as it appears that E-scooter activity on our streets and sidewalks is only increasing. Let’s not wait for a tragedy to be our wake-up call.
Rick Youlton
Chatham-Kent
