Toronto’s chief of police is asking parents to “think long and hard” about gifting their children e-scooters due to safety risks posed by the unregulated micro-mobility devices. Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw made the comments during his monthly appearance on CP24’s Ask the Chief on Friday. “To be clear, e-scooters are not allowed on roadways, sidewalks, or bike lanes at all,” he said. “We’ve done enforcement and education campaigns to create awareness around that but there is no regulatory framework for e-scooters.” He noted that e-bikes are permitted in bike lanes but not on sidewalks. “It is a very confusing environment to be sure,” he added. He said officers have also conducted education campaigns at Toronto schools to get the word out about the dangers of e-scooters, noting that some of the devices can go “incredibly fast.” “Certainly a concern for sure and we would ask parents to really think long and hard about what they are providing their kids to get to and from school and ride around the neighbourhood because they are not legal and they… could potentially cause some danger,” he said. Over the summer, Toronto police ran an enforcement blitz for micro-mobility devices over a two-week period from Aug. 10 to Aug. 24. Police confirmed that 324 tickets were issued for infractions such as “illegal sidewalk riding, travelling the wrong way in cycle tracks, illegal e-moped use in cycle tracks.” Dr. Daniel Rosenfield, with Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, told CTV New Toronto’s Pat Foran in September that there has been a significant uptick in hospitalizations for people using e-scooters. “The classic user of these devices that we see (in the emergency department) that is most severely injured are boys aged 10 to 12, which is before you can get a driver’s licence, before you know the rules of the road, and kids don’t understand how powerful these devices are,” Rosenfield told CTV News. During his sit-down interview with CP24, Demkiw fielded a number of viewer questions, including what can be done about excessive noise from vehicles downtown. Watch the full segment in the video player at the top of the page. -With files from CTV News Toronto’s Pat Foran
