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A group of medical students at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry has turned a school assignment into a passion project with hopes of preventing e-scooter injuries among youth in London, Ont. As part of an experiential learning course in the second year of medical school, students were put into teams of eight to work on various long-term projects aimed at addressing problems related to the healthcare system. Students working with paediatrics professors Dr. Sheena Belisle and Dr. Jennifer Kilgar have been focusing on e-scooter youth injury prevention. Long after the course wrapped in April, half the students in the group are still involved. “I am incredibly proud of the students’ efforts during the school year and even more impressed that many of them have chosen to continue contributing over the summer months,” said Belisle, also a pediatric emergency physician at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), who came up with the topic of e-scooter safety. “Their dedication and ongoing commitment are a reflection of their passion towards making a meaningful impact in our community.” The decision wasn’t a difficult one for the students, however. “It was never really a question,” said Nikita Burman, now starting her third year of medical school. Burman and four others – Ethan Martin, Joseph Russell, Ojan Khosravifar and Eden Kemal – decided to keep working on the campaign, even after their class ended.  

Why e-scooter youth injury prevention?

Belisle was moved to action by a rise in e-scooter-related visits to LHSC’s Victoria Hospital and Children’s Hospital emergency departments and overall concerns about child safety. “I witness the impact of these injuries firsthand in the ED on a regular basis,” she said. “The e-scooter injury prevention campaign is an important initiative as we continue to see a growing number of e-scooter-related injuries among children, both within our community and across Canada.” Locally, LHSC reported that Children’s Hospital treated 58 e-scooter-related injuries between April and June of this year, compared to 22 in the same time the year prior. Burman, who worked as a paediatric nurse before deciding to go to medical school, said injuries typical of e-scooter accidents include long bone fractures, head trauma and potentially life-threatening injuries to the torso. “Often, intra-abdominal injuries happen when the person topples forward over the e-scooter and the handlebars go into their torso.”

How common are e-scooter injuries in Canada?

This summer, the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program published the results of a survey of paediatricians and paediatric subspecialists conducted between late 2025 and early 2026 asking about injuries associated with powered personal micromobility devices, or PPMDs (such as e-scooters, e-bikes and e-skateboards). According to the results, there were 10 documented deaths, 12 ICU admissions and 26 hospitalizations lasting over two days related to those devices in the previous 12 months. The overwhelming majority of incidents (where the specific device was reported) involved an e-scooter, at 86 per cent. Additionally, 42 per cent of all reported injuries involved kids aged 10 to 15. Russell and Burman explained e-scooter injuries among youth stem from a range of factors, including being unfamiliar with how e-scooters operate, using an inappropriately sized e-scooter, tendency toward risk-taking behaviours, underdeveloped balance and coordination skills and lack of experience. Russell said people are often unaware of the risks of e-scooters. “Say mom gets a present for her 17-year-old son, who’s legally allowed to ride it with a helmet. Then his 14-year-old brother grabs the scooter and just zips off without a helmet, not recognizing the speed of the scooter and the safety risks.” E-scooters are often marketed in a similar fashion to toys, with bright, colourful designs, Burman added. “It encourages kids to use them.”

What is the legal age to ride an e-scooter in Ontario?

At the onset of the project, the students put together a survey to gauge the current level of knowledge within the community on the rules around e-scooter use, specifically focusing on two pieces of information: “you cannot ride an e-scooter if you’re under 16 years of age, period, and you have to wear a helmet if you’re under 18,” Burman said. “As expected, we saw a lack of knowledge in regard to how to use e-scooters appropriately,” said Russell. Of roughly 150 responses collected mostly from people in the ED as well as through responses to a QR code, only 42 per cent were even aware the province has rules and regulations surrounding e-scooter use. Russell said 39 per cent of respondents correctly identified 16 as the minimum age for use and only 15 per cent knew riders under 18 are required to wear helmets. Nearly half of all respondents, 45 per cent, incorrectly believed e-scooters are permitted on sidewalks in London.

What’s next for e-scooter safety education?

After determining the baseline level of awareness locally, the students developed an informational poster for public education –  they plan to share it widely throughout the city and on social media. They hope it will contribute to a 10 per cent reduction in the number of e-scooter-related injuries in the Children’s Hospital Emergency Department by October. “We don’t just pull that out of a hat. Based on the statistics and the results from other studies across Canada, 10 per cent seems very doable,” said Russell. “If we’re seeing great success, we’d like to keep modifying our approach and figure out how to continue improving those numbers. We also want to work with the province and our municipality to inform and educate on policy decisions.” Preventing injuries results in a healthier population and saves money by reducing the load on emergency departments, Martin added.

What has been done elsewhere?

Belisle’s project has already been well-received beyond Ontario, with Martin, Burman and Khosravifar presenting the project and its objectives at the International Conference of Emergency Medicine in Hamburg, Germany in June. “We also learned about different cities that have also worked to improve e-scooter safety. Basically, we got homework for the way back,” Khosravifar laughed. Similar projects have been conducted in Calgary and Toronto and in parts of the U.S. and Finland, Burman said. Calgary’s project, which she described as “a big inspiration,” also included a public education campaign. “Information was shared on the City of Calgary’s social media channels and then researchers tracked injury incidents to see what impact it had. That was the paper that we read and built off,” she said. “We were inspired to start a similar campaign, but we are also looking to involve schools, community centers and arenas for wider dissemination.” Khosravifar stressed there are still benefits to e-scooters, such as improving transportation access. “But improving how they’re used and keeping people – especially younger people – safe has to be equally important.” Burman summed it up simply: “The best-case scenario is to avoid the injury completely.” Learn more about how Western is optimizing health for all.