If you go outside your door in Vancouver, you’re almost guaranteed to come across someone riding an e-scooter. Vancouver Police say that a vast majority of riders don’t use them properly.

“Out of the 1275 riders that we stopped, 920 of them were not wearing helmets,” says Insp. Stephanie Willoughby.

That stark statistic was gathered during a month-long police awareness campaign that started just before Labour day. The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) say they’ve handed out hundreds of tickets during that span ranging from infractions like; underaged riders, riding on sidewalks and multiple riders at a time.

“Wearing no helmet is $29, and the average fine amount is $109,” says Willoughby.

While they’ve quickly become a popular method of transportation, they’re also among the most dangerous. 

A recent report from the Canadian Institute for Health and Information points to a 40 per cent increase in e-scooter related hospitalizations Canada wide. For both children and adults between 2025 and 2026.

“We started the initiative as we saw a very serious injury sustained by a rider over the summer, as well sadly and tragically a fatality.”

“While the way I ride the e-scooter can be a bit unconventional,” says Everest Hughes, creator of ‘Limescootboyz.’

Vancouverite Hughes has recently gained social media traction for posting lime scooter stunts like this one under his alias, ‘Limescootboyz.’ Despite not wearing a helmet in most of his videos – Hughes says that he’s trying to be more cognisant about e-scooter safety and what he posts to his platform.

“I don’t want people to copy what I’m doing or emulate it. Even just riding up and down the street, or if it’s wet out you have to be careful, so scoot within your limits,” says Hughes.

Meantime, the VPD are reminding the public, if you are riding an e-scooter, never ride one on a sidewalk, always wear a helmet and obey the 25km e-scooter speed limit.