Ottawa’s children’s hospital is seeing more children with injuries related to riding an e-scooter in the emergency room, as police report more kids under 16 using the two-wheeled vehicles. CHEO says there were 93 visits for e-scooter related injuries in the emergency department between July 2025 and June 2026, compared to 34 injuries during the same period the previous year. The hospital didn’t say what type of injuries were treated by doctors in the ER. Under the Highway Traffic Act, riders must be at least 16 years of age to use an e-scooter in Ontario. A bicycle helmet is required for riders under the age of 18. The Ottawa Police Service is rolling out a campaign to crack down on the misuse of scooters this summer, including underage riding by children on e-scooters. “We need to make sure that parents are really thinking twice before they’re buying these for their children, because no one under the age of 16 is supposed to be riding these things,” Ottawa Police Sgt. Josh Callaghan told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron last Friday. Callaghan said officers are conducting operations in the Findlay Creek and Riverside South areas, looking out for underage driving, unsafe operations and speeding. He says Ottawa police conducted a campaign earlier this summer in the downtown/ByWard Market area, and are now moving to different areas of the city to “crackdown on this misuse.” In Ottawa, e-scooters can only operate on roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h or lower, on multi-use pathways and on city facilities. The maximum operating speed in Ottawa is 20 km/h. “A great example of what we’re seeing out there is other day one of my officers in the road safety unit, they actually clocked of these e-scooters going 52 km/h,” Callaghan said. Ottawa police have the power under the city’s Electric Kick Scooter Bylaw to issue fines for violations such as sidewalk riding, which is a $150 fine. With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Adam Beauchemin
