Toronto police step up enforcement of e-scooter safety

Toronto police say officers will be cracking down on dangerous drivers operating e-vehicles on city roads, as part of a two-week enforcement campaign by its traffic services unit.

In the last few years, there's been an increase in the number of "micromobility vehicles" on the road, police said in a Monday news release. Those electric vehicles include e-bikes, e-unicycles and e-hoverboards, as well as e-scooters,  which are banned but increasingly popular in Toronto.

The focus of the Safe Rides, Safe Streets campaign is educating drivers and stopping them from putting themselves and others at risk, Acting Supt. Matt Moyer told CBC Toronto in an interview.

"You can't drive along the road at excessive speeds, go up on the sidewalk, cut people off ... parking and leaving your vehicles everywhere, going through red lights, so on, so forth," Moyer said. 

"We're just seeing too much of it."

Year to date, nine people have been killed or seriously injured while using a micromobility vehicle, according to Toronto police. Moyer said at least one person died on an e-scooter in Toronto this year, and doctors have also noted an uptick in injuries in young people relating to improper e-vehicle use. 

"They're motorized and when they're motorized, they attract sometimes a very young audience," he said.

"We decided it's time to put our foot down and start with education and segue into enforcement."

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Ashley Milton is asking the city to better regulate e-scooters, which are currently banned from Toronto roads. "I'd like them to take into account that sidewalks are actually made for people, not for motorized vehicles," she said.

Advocate calls for e-scooter regulation 

Lawyer, and avid e-scooter user, Caryma Sa'd said she welcomes the police's effort to stop dangerous driving, but she wants to see the city adopt regulations that make the popular, growing use of e-scooters legal and standardized. 

"It's a bit of a Wild West," Sa'd said. "That would include folks who modify their devices so that they can go very fast and other modifications that might affect the structural integrity of the device."

The City of Toronto has banned the use of e-scooters. A spokesperson told CBC Toronto in an email that the city had declined to opt into the provincial e-scooter pilot in May, citing safety concerns for pedestrians and drivers. 

"Cities that have allowed e-scooters have observed a high incidence of sidewalk riding by e-scooter users, which presents a significant safety risk to pedestrians, including seniors, and people with disabilities," the city spokesperson said.

It's not entirely clear how many electric-powered micromobility vehicles are on the roads in Toronto, but police and city estimates suggest there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of e-scooters alone.

"City council just needs to consider the reality on the ground, and whether it's better to regulate something that's already happening to the best of their ability or a blanket illegal status," said Sa'd.

"It is just an enforcement nightmare."

Since e-scooters are banned in Toronto, the police's recent strategy creates a false impression that riding them is allowed if you wear a helmet and don't speed, said David Lepofsky, chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance. 

His group has long advocated for the city to ban e-scooters, saying they endanger seniors and people with disabilities.

"Toronto police should be enforcing the law against anyone who rides an e-scooter on a public road, sidewalk, park trail or any other public property. We fought long and hard for that ban," Lepofsky told CBC Toronto in a written statement.

The police traffic services campaign runs Nov. 4 until Nov. 17. Moyer said enforcement will start in the downtown core, where traffic congestion is worse, and then span out across the city.