• 1. That helmets be required only for riders under 18 years old, and
• 2. That Administration be requested to provide information related to the risks of driving and head injuries when this committee report proceeds to Council.

This report provides the requested additional information on risks associated with electric kick-scooters, particularly risks of head injuries.

Discussion:

Administration reviewed published reports and studies that examined the following locations:

•  City of Calgary: 2019 staff report on e-scooter pilot program
•  City of Portland, Oregon: 2019 staff report on e-scooter pilot program
•  City of Santa Monica, California: 2019 staff report on e-scooter pilot program
•  City of Austin, Texas: 2019 Health Department e-scooter injury study
•  Southern California: 2019 UCLA e-scooter injury study
•  USA nationwide: 2019 Rutgers University study
•  Overall survey of published e-scooter injury findings: 2020 Vancouver Coastal Health evidence summary

With the exception of Santa Monica, these reports and studies considered e-scooter injury cases at emergency departments; in the case of one report, e-scooter injury cases at urgent care clinics were also considered.

For Santa Monica, collision and injury information was based on police collision reports rather than information obtained from emergency departments.

These studies suggest certain overall conclusions:

•  E-scooter rider injuries treated in emergency departments include a significant proportion of head injuries (between one third and one half of all e-scooter injuries, depending on the specific study).
•  The average age for injured e-scooter riders is typically well over 18. In the studies that gave an average age for injured e-scooter riders, the average age was generally in the mid-30s.
•  The majority of injuries to e-scooter riders were to riders who were using escooters for the first time or to inexperienced riders with a limited number of previous e-scooter trips.