She crashed her e-scooter avoiding a Canada goose and broke her jaw. Now she's warning others

After an e-scooter crash left Jackie Gravel of Gatineau, Que., with a broken jaw that forced her to eat puréed food with a syringe for six weeks, she's now warning other riders to exercise caution before a ride.

"It can happen to anyone at any time," said the fitness instructor, who was riding on a bike path to her downtown Ottawa studio in the ByWard Market in late July when she lost control.

"I came upon this flock of Canada geese," said Gravel. "They all separated and I was ringing my bell. This one rogue Canada goose — I don't know if she didn't hear the bell — ran in front of me."

Gravel hit the brakes and her e-scooter started to shake, she said. "I was going fairly fast and I hit the pavement basically with my face."

Gravel admitted she was riding at 30 km/h when she crashed, faster than the legal limit.

"When my chin hit the pavement, the impact brought my lower jaw into my head," said Gravel. "Then I started bleeding a lot and it was mostly from my ears."

Gravel was rushed to the Hull Hospital where a jaw specialist fitted her existing braces with elastics to keep her mouth closed and fixed in one place. The doctor removed the elastics just this week.

Gravel purchased her scooter for $800 earlier this year, had practised riding in a neighbouring parking lot a number of times before hitting the road and was wearing a helmet when she crashed.

She even watched defensive driving videos before venturing on longer trips.

'Most people I see don't have helmets'

It's been a long six weeks eating purées and soups, said Gravel. It's why she's warning others to be mindful of the risk associated with riding an e-scooter.

Most important to Gravel, she's hopeful more people will wear helmets.

"I cringe because I find most people I see don't have helmets," she said. "If they have helmets they're often wearing them at the back of their head and the helmets that are provided for those rental scooters are not sufficient."

The City of Ottawa's shared e-scooter pilot program is now in its fourth year and offers 900 kick-scooters stationed throughout the city from two separate companies. Only one provides helmets.

According to a city report, people took 80,000 trips on the city's shared e-scooters in 2022, down from 410,000 in 2021 — in part because the riding season was nearly one-third shorter.

Emergency room visits due to e-scooter incidents have fluctuated since the program was first launched. The report reveals ER visits "that may be associated with kick-type e-scooters increased in 2021 (166 visits) compared to 2020 (47 visits)." 

The most recent data from April to June of 2022 shows 38 e-scooter related visits. Regardless of the year, injuries — and those often included head, neck and face injuries — were most common among young adults aged 20 to 29. 

According to Ottawa police, since 2020, officers have issued a total of 40 tickets under the new electric kick-scooter bylaw. More than half of those were in 2021, a quarter in 2020 and just two this year. There were none in 2022.

About 75 per cent of those infractions were for riding on a sidewalk or where prohibited, said police spokesperson Const. Mike Cudrasov.

Strong helmet recommendation for most

"I don't have a car so it gives me the freedom to get out and not really worry about buses and stuff because they're always late," said Corinna Cameron, who spoke to CBC News during a helmet-less ride through downtown.

Cameron recently purchased her e-scooter second-hand from a friend.

"I'm fine in the bike lane. I'm sticking to side streets," said Cameron.

And if she is injured in a crash, she has no one to blame but herself, she said. 

"I'm mortified because … I see them, they're really awkward," said Gravel. "I see them in the dark. They don't have a helmet on. I see two of them, they're meant for one person. They're upping their chances of getting a severe injury."

Gravel also thinks the city needs to provide better helmets to e-scooter users.

Right now the city's bylaw doesn't require e-scooter companies to provide helmets, although Ottawa Public Health strongly recommends people wear them.

Helmets are mandatory for people under age 18.

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