Interior Health unlikely to lobby for e-scooter ban after Kamloops fatality

Injuries were always expected when e-scooters were allowed in Kamloops this year, but the region’s first fatality has sparked calls to take them off the road.

Kamloops is late to the adoption as e-scooters have been increasingly allowed in cities across the province, and while doctors have warned of sharp increases in injuries once they showed up, Interior Health is unlikely to steer cities toward banning them.

“They are widespread. It’s across BC, Canada and worldwide, and people use them… That’s why our role is to focus on prevention messages — how people can engage in this and do it safely,” Interior Health public health officer Dr. Silvina Mema told iNFOnews.ca, suggesting it would be difficult to ban them outright.

Hunter Dennis, 18, died last week in Kamloops after crashing while riding a rental e-scooter. RCMP said he wasn’t wearing a helmet and he died in hospital of a traumatic brain injury a few days later. A petition launched by Dennis’ friend is aimed at banning their use in Kamloops.

Dr. Mema said he was the first person known to have died in an e-scooter crash in the health region.

Kelowna was the first in the Thompson-Okanagan region to see a fleet of rental scooters in 2021, where there was a drastic uptick in injuries including fractures and concussions.

That started with 72 hospital visits in the first year and tapered off to less than 50 in the subsequent two years before the study ended in 2023. After the first year, Kelowna decided helmets should be mandatory for all e-scooter riders.

Doctors in Kamloops haven’t studied just how many e-scooter riders have attended Royal Inland Hospital, but they’re not surprised to see an increase in injuries since the rentals rolled out last March.

Dr. Mema said she’s hearing anecdotally of a recent increase in e-scooter injuries across the health region, which appears to extend to other parts of the country, too.

Without the health authority tracking e-scooter injuries, Kamloops and e-scooter contractor Bird Canada are the only ones monitoring, but it’s not clear how accurate that information is.

Bird Canada sends monthly reports to Kamloops city hall and after the first month passed with no known “safety incidents,” there have been five in subsequent months, according to city transportation engineer Nii Noi Akuetteh.

Akutteh said there were 5,000 rides recorded each month, but it’s not clear what a safety incident entails nor where in the city they occurred.

Bird Canada general manager Pat Graham said Dennis’ death the first fatality the company has seen on its scooters. The company operates in more than two dozen Canadian cities including Vernon.

“We are incredibly heartbroken by this tragic incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the rider’s family, friends and loved ones during this difficult time,” he said.

He wouldn’t comment further on Dennis’ death, its operations in Kamloops or safety incidents in other cities, but he did say that Bird is cooperating with RCMP during the investigation.