In August, 2026 a number of news articles were posted on the internet talking about the large increase in injuries suffered by riders of e-bikes and e-scooters.
In London Ontario it was reported that the Children’s Hospital treated 22 children for e-scooter related injuries in between April and June of 2025. It was reported that this number rose to 58 for the same period in 2026.
In another report released by the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program, 48 cases of serious injuries and death related to e-scooter and e-bike incidents were noted in 2025. Much of the concern was with how many of those cases involved children.
In Toronto Ontario police have reported that there were 514 collisions in 2026 involving micro-mobility devices such as bicycles, e-bikes, cargo bikes, mopeds and e-scooters. Two of those incidents involved fatal e-scooter collisions. In response to these numbers Toronto police went on a two-week enforcement campaign. They issued 1,277 tickets for vehicles parked in bike lanes and 324 tickets against riders of micro-mobility devices. The campaign ran from August 10 to 24 so now that it is over does that mean there will be no focused attention to this issue? It would seem that the only solution to be found is to give out tickets but these may only be a drop in the bucket as police have so many other matters to deal with.
The newly appointed “Mayor of Toronto”, Doug Ford, has now been given permission by his appointed Ontario Court of Appeal to remove a number of cycling lanes in Toronto. While a lower court determined that the removal of the cycling lanes was an infringement to cyclists’ constitutional right to be protected from harm the Court of Appeal determined there was no such harm that should prevent Ford from doing whatever he wants with cycling lanes.
Such cycling lanes are not just used by cyclists but by all users of micro-mobility devices. In its wisdom the Ontario Court of Appeal failed to acknowledge that, when cycling lanes are removed, this does not mean that cyclists will also be removed. In other words, many cyclists will still use the roadway where those lanes were removed. The misinformed logic is that cycling lanes can be moved to a less-busy road nearby and that cyclists will then ride along the newly created cycling lanes. This misinformed logic fails because it does not recognize that, unlike drivers of motor vehicles, cyclists are hampered when they must ride a further distance and thus expend more energy. It is not just a matter of more time, expended energy is a critical factor for cyclists. Thus it is a real danger that cyclists will continue riding where the cycling lane has been removed. But this real danger is also not appreciated by many cyclists because many are kept in the dark.
All involved parties, including the Ford government, are guilty of failing to educate cyclists, and all micro-mobility riders, of the dangers posed to them. As stated numerous times in Gorski Consulting website articles, collisions involving cyclists, and collisions involving all micro-mobility devices are rarely publicized. Even in major injury and fatal collisions only bare facts are released to the public. Such information is never sufficient to understand how and why a collision occurred and what actions motor vehicle drivers or riders of micro-mobility devices could have taken to avoid the collision.
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