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Vancouver police have issued a plea to e-scooter users to take safety seriously, after a rider without a helmet died and another was seriously injured in separate incidents over the weekend.
A 30-year-old woman died in a Vancouver hospital on Saturday, eight days after the e-scooter she was riding collided with a vehicle at a busy intersection.
Police say she was conscious when she was transported to hospital, but wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time of the collision and had hit her head.
On Sunday afternoon, a 54-year-old woman standing stationary on an e-scooter was struck from behind by another scooter at the Coal Harbour Seawall. She was taken to hospital with head and collarbone injuries.
“She’s going to recover, but if she was wearing a properly-fitted, certified helmet it probably would have prevented some of the more serious injuries,” said VPD Sgt. Adam Donaldson.
“In both incidents, a helmet may not have prevented the collisions, but it could have significantly reduced the severity of the injuries.”
Bicycle safety helmets are mandatory on e-scooters under the Motor Vehicle Act.
The penalty for disobeying the law is a $29 fine, plus a $4 victim surcharge.
“It’s a very small fine, and most cops don’t like to give it out,” said Donaldson.
Minister of Transportation and Transit Mike Farnworth said a decision on whether to increase the fine would depend on the results of an e-scooter pilot program underway in six B.C. municipalities.
“The ministry is also developing new public education materials for release this year to promote safe and legal electric kick scooter use,” he told CBC News in a statement.
The right fit
Jeff Leigh from non-profit advocacy group HUB Cycling said it was important that helmets be properly fitted.
“Helmets with straps not connected and helmets riding too far up the head provide little benefit,” he said.
The city’s popular Lime e-scooter company has helmets available for riders, but they are often missing.
The VPD’s Donaldson said the safest course of action is to bring your own protective headwear.
“If you’re going to ride these things often, take the time to go to a bike shop and get a helmet that is properly fitted to you.”
Other factors also increasing rider risk
It’s not just the helmet rule being routinely flouted by e-scooter riders in B.C.; despite the machines being banned for children under 16, data released by B.C. Children’s Hospital last month shows e-scooter-related injuries among children and youth are on the rise.
Hospitalizations more than doubled between April 2025 and March 2026.
“People aren’t aware of what the rules are,” the B.C. Injury Research & Prevention Unit’s Selena Babul told CBC News.
“You see kids under 16 riding all the time and their parents probably don’t know that they should not be … education is important.”
In British Columbia, the maximum speed limit for an e-scooter is 25 kilometres per hour, but Babul said many models on the market went much faster.
“Unfortunately you’ve got manufacturers marketing e-scooters at higher speeds, you can… get scooters as high as 60, 70 kilometers per hour,” she said.
