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When I see kids zipping around on e-scooters, I always wonder if they’re missing out on exercise that they’d get from walking or riding a bike. I worry about safety, but what about health? Maybe it’s better than sitting inside on a tablet, but are they getting any fitness benefits at all? – Grace, Toronto
When it comes to e-scooters, E doesn’t stand for exercise.
“I don’t see any direct fitness value to e-scooters,” said Dr. Daniel Rosenfield, a paediatric emergency doctor and chair of the Canadian Paediatric Society’s (CPS) injury prevention committee.
Unlike kick-scooters, e-scooters move entirely on battery power. While you stand on them and balance, you’re not getting “much cardiovascular benefit,” Rosenfield said.
We couldn’t find any direct research looking at the fitness benefits of e-scooters for kids. A University of Tennessee study of 20 adults found that riding an e-scooter required more physical effort than driving a car, but less than walking.
There’s solid evidence that active transportation – including walking and cycling – is good for kids, Rosenfield said.
Many kids aren’t getting enough exercise as it is. In Canada, about half of kids five to 11 get 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity every day, according to Statistics Canada. For youth 12 to 17, that drops to 21 per cent.
E-scooters do get kids outside, and getting around on one might mean kids walk more than if they were driven everywhere, Rosenfield said.
“You’ve got this balancing act of getting people outside and being active versus the relative risk with some of these electric devices,” he said. “But for kids and teens, at this point, any benefits are grossly outweighed by the risks.”
Not a toy?
As e-scooters have become more popular, more kids are getting injured on them.
For instance, the emergency department at Toronto’s SickKids hospital saw one e-scooter-related injury in 2020, 46 in 2024 and 107 in 2025, Rosenfield said.
“This can be anything from just one or two surgeries, to lifelong injuries needing rehabilitation hospitals,” he said. “We see anything from minor scrapes and cuts to open fractures and traumatic brain injury.”
Nobody under 16 should ride an e-scooter, Rosenfield said.
While kids get hurt on non-motorized kick scooters, the injuries tend to be less serious because they’re slower – often around five or 10 kilometres an hour.
In Ontario, e-scooters are supposed to have a maximum top speed of 24 kilometres an hour. But many for sale can go faster than that – and even some slower scooters can often be modified to go faster.
“If you are going faster, you are more likely to get injured, and the faster you go, the more severe that injury will be,” he said.
They have small wheels and can be difficult to balance, especially over rough pavement.
“When someone falls off an e-scooter, they can fall forward over the handlebars, putting them at risk for head and facial injuries,” said Shelina Babul, director of the B.C. Injury Research and Prevention Unit at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. Also, the acceleration is faster than kids realize, especially when they first try them.
“The acceleration is just incredible,” Rosenfield said. “It is not obvious when you [buy them] for a couple hundred bucks that they can go from zero to 30 kilometres an hour in just a few seconds.”
Some parents assume they’re safe because you can buy them in stores and online, he said.
“The refrain is almost always the same from parents and caregivers,” Rosenfield said. “They had no idea how powerful they were.”
Also, teens - especially teen boys - tend to take risks, Rosenfield said.
“The part of teenagers’ brains that control reasoning and decision-making are still developing,” she said. BC Children’s Hospital saw 81 emergency visits for e-scooter injuries among kids and teens under 17 from April 2025 to March 2026 – more than double the year before. About 80 per cent were male, she said.
Laws vary
The rules vary by province and city – and they can get complicated.
In Ontario and British Columbia, for instance, you must be 16 or older to ride an e-scooter. In Quebec, you must be 14 or older.
Helmet rules also vary. Quebec and B.C. require them for all e-scooter riders, but in Ontario, you only need one if you’re under 18.
And some cities have their own rules. In Ontario, for instance, some cities allow e-scooters under a provincial pilot program. Others, including Toronto, don’t allow them at all – but people, including kids under 16, are still riding them.
“It is totally illegal. We see them everywhere, and no one’s doing anything about it,” said Sean Shapiro, a road safety expert and former Toronto traffic cop. “I walk my kids to school and there are kids on e-scooters every single day.”
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