Safety surrounding electric scooters is a growing concern, and it is not unfounded. In recent years there has been a sharp rise in injuries and deaths resulting from PEV (Personal Electric Vehicles).  This class of micromobility devices are dominated by Electric Bicycles and to a lesser degree, Electric Scooters. If you do a quick internet search, you will find statistics consistent with a published study by University of California San Francisco, July 2024, “E-bicycle injuries doubled every year from 2017 to 2022, while e-scooter injuries rose by 45 percent each year. Injured e-riders tended to be slightly older and wore helmets less often than conventional riders, while upper extremity injuries were more common among non-EV riders.”  Source Electric Scooter and Bike Accidents Are Soaring Across the U.S. | UC San Francisco.

Is e-scooter safety really getting worse?

It's a fair question, and the headline numbers sound alarming. That's a real trend worth taking seriously. But it's missing a denominator. The number of riders, trips, and miles logged on e-scooters and e-bikes grew dramatically over the same five years. A rising injury count alongside a rising (and possibly faster-rising) rider base is a very different story than a rising injury rate, and most of the public conversation doesn't distinguish between the two.

What are the actual laws for riding an e-scooter?

This is where most of the public confusion starts. Regulations differ by country, by state or province, and often by city and e-bike rules are frequently confused with e-scooter rules, even though they're usually separate.

The US: no single federal scooter law

There's no dedicated federal statute governing electric scooters. The 750-watt, 20-mph figure that gets repeated across the internet actually comes from a different law: the federal "low-speed electric bicycle" definition (15 U.S.C. § 2085), which Congress wrote for e-bikes, not scooters. States frequently borrow that baseline by reference when writing scooter rules, but the details vary. California's own scooter statute (CVC § 407.5) doesn't set a wattage cap at all, and caps speed at 15 mph on bike paths and 20 mph elsewhere. The upshot: always check your specific state and city, not just the number you saw quoted online.

Canada: it depends heavily on where you are

Canada has no single national e-scooter law either. Quebec, including Montreal, currently allows privately owned e-scooters under a provincial pilot project: riders must be at least 14, helmets are mandatory, top speed is capped around 25 km/h (~15.5 mph), and scooters are permitted on bike paths and roads posted at 50 km/h or less — but never on sidewalks. Alberta takes the opposite approach: privately owned e-scooters are banned outright on public roads, sidewalks, and pathways province-wide, though Calgary and Edmonton both run separate municipal rental programs. Ontario leaves the decision to individual municipalities, and Toronto currently bans e-scooters on public property entirely.

Cities with local bans worth knowing about

A handful of cities restrict e-scooters more tightly than their state or province otherwise would. Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, California, both prohibit shared/rental scooter operators from running fleets within city limits; Beverly Hills has enforced restrictions on shared mobility devices in public rights-of-way for several years, though privately owned, CVC-compliant scooters are subject to standard e-vehicle rules rather than a blanket prohibition. As always, local ordinances change; confirm directly with the city before assuming either a full ban or full permission.

Why do e-scooters and bike lanes create friction?

Public frustration with shared bike infrastructure usually comes down to two separate issues that get lumped together.

The qualitative issue: hardware, not skill, sets the speed ceiling

A competent, fit cyclist can sustain 20–25 mph on a road bike when motivated to. But that usually requires a decent bike and real experience, which naturally filters who rides that fast and how often and the level of experience before they reach such speeds. An e-scooter's top speed isn't gated by rider skill at all; it's gated by the hardware. That means inexperienced riders, including some without great judgment, can end up riding much closer to a scooter's physical speed limit than their actual skill level would otherwise allow.

The quantitative issue: a lot more people are using the same lanes

E-scooters and e-bikes have pulled a meaningful number of trips out of cars, transit, and walking which is a genuine win for congestion and emissions. But it also means bike lanes built for a smaller population of confident cyclists are now carrying far more traffic, at mixed speeds, with a wider range of rider experience. More volume on the same infrastructure means more near-misses, more conflict, and more irritation, even if per-rider risk hasn't changed much.

The problem usually isn't scooters versus bikes. It's yesterday's infrastructure trying to hold today's volume.

Should e-scooters get their own lanes, or share with bikes?

For most riding (on average between 15 to 25 mph) on a flat, paved path, separating scooters from bicycles doesn't solve many of the problems. The speeds largely overlap with what confident cyclists already ride, and splitting infrastructure by vehicle type (rather than by speed or by pedestrian proximity) adds cost and complexity without a clear safety return.

Sidewalks are a different story entirely, for scooters and bikes alike. Wherever a real bike lane or path exists, both should generally use it instead of the sidewalk, for pedestrian safety. Where no separated infrastructure exists at all, that's a genuine gap; not a scooter problem, but an infrastructure one.

What actually helps: banning, better rules, or better infrastructure?

Why outright bans tend to backfire

Banning e-scooters, or banning them from shared lanes specifically, is the blunt-force option, and it doesn’t solve anything but rather iit tends to create new problems while only partially solving the old ones. Riders don't stop riding; unregulated, unregistered scooters proliferate instead, ridden by people with even less incentive to follow safety rules. Cities also lose the traffic, parking, and emissions benefits that come with scooter adoption. And pushing scooters onto roadways instead of bike lanes increases the danger of car-versus-scooter collisions while slowing vehicle traffic further.

What tends to work better

• Regulate behavior, not just hardware. Much of today's scooter legislation was written for early 2010s rental fleets (ie. novice tourists, with minimal training and occasional intoxication). Usage has diversified since; rules should evolve alongside it, especially for adult, experienced riders who don't need the same hardware limits as first-time or underage riders.

• Invest in rider education. Drivers are tested on rules and safe operation before they're licensed. Scooter riders generally aren't and a lightweight version of that (rules of the road, safe following distance, when to slow down) could meaningfully cut down on reckless riding.

• Scale infrastructure to match real demand. Municipalities that study current path usage — not usage from five or ten years ago — can plan lane width, protected crossings, and parking/charging areas that actually match today's volume.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are e-scooter injuries actually rising?

Reported injuries are rising, but so is ridership. UCSF-affiliated research found e-scooter injuries climbing about 45% year-over-year from 2017–2022, but that figure isn't adjusted for the much larger number of riders, trips, and miles logged over the same period.

Should e-scooters share bike lanes with bicycles?

In most cases, yes, for the same roads and paths cyclists already use, since a 15–20 mph scooter travels at roughly cycling speed. The real issue is rising path congestion and inexperienced riders operating at their scooter's physical limit, not scooters versus bikes as a category.

What is the speed and power limit for e-scooters in the Canada?

Canada has no single federal e-scooter law, but most local laws cap the power limit at  750W/20mph figure. The federal "power-assisted bicycle" standard caps motor output at 500W continuous and assisted speed at 32 km/h under Canada's Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations, in place since 2000. Most provinces echo those numbers when writing their own e-scooter rules — Ontario's pilot program caps eligible e-scooters at 24 km/h, 45 kg, and 500W, and PEI sets similar limits: 500W, 45 kg, 430mm wheels, 24 km/h. But there's no dedicated national e-scooter statute — it's provincial, and cities layer bylaws on top of that.

Where are private e-scooters banned in North America?

Alberta bans privately owned e-scooters on public roads, sidewalks, and pathways province-wide, though Calgary and Edmonton run separate rental programs. Montreal, by contrast, permits privately owned e-scooters under Quebec's pilot project, with helmets mandatory and a roughly 15.5 mph cap. Local rules change frequently. Always confirm before riding.

Where are private e-scooters banned in Canada?

Toronto bans e-scooters entirely on public property, while Alberta prohibits private e-scooter ownership on public roads and sidewalks province-wide — only rental programs in Calgary and Edmonton operate legally. This is under Alberta's Traffic Safety Act, which classifies motorized scooters as prohibited miniature vehicles unless the province grants a municipality a specific exemption. Calgary and Edmonton have been lobbying to change this — both cities' councils have pushed the province to amend the Traffic Safety Act to sanction private e-scooter use — but as of 2026 it hasn't happened. Montréal, by contrast, permits privately owned e-scooters under Quebec's pilot project.

Should cities ban e-scooters instead of expanding lane capacity?

Bans tend to backfire, pushing riders onto sidewalks or unregulated scooters, erasing traffic and emissions benefits, and increasing car-versus-scooter collisions if scooters shift to roadways. Rider education, smarter enforcement, and scaled-up infrastructure tend to outperform outright bans.

Regulations referenced in this article reflect research current as of July 2026 and are provided for general information only, not legal advice. Always confirm current rules with your local government before riding.