Young e-scooter rider dies in Kamloops

According to Kamloops RCMP spokesperson Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet, police were called to Kamloops General Hospital at around 6 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 16 after the arrival of a badly injured e-scooter rider.

Shoihet said the crash occurred near the intersection of Battle Street and Lee Road east of downtown Kamloops and did not involve any other vehicles.

“He suffered critical injuries and was later pronounced dead in hospital,” Shoihet said, adding the rider was 18.

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The use of electric kick scooters around the province is the subject of a four-year pilot project, expiring in April 2028.

An interim report into the pilot project released in 2025 found a high percentage of injured riders turning up in hospital were not wearing a helmet. Kelowna General Hospital, for example, reported 85 per cent of electric scooter injury cases related to no helmet being used.

In June, Postmedia reported that e-scooter injuries among children in B.C. more than doubled in a single year, with most of those hurt too young to legally ride.

B.C. Children’s Hospital recorded 81 e-scooter-related emergency room visits in 2025-26, up from 37 the year before. More than half involved children aged 13 to 15, below B.C.’s legal riding age of 16.

The figures were released just days after a 12-year-old was struck by a car while riding an e-scooter in North Vancouver.

Dr. Shelina Babul, director of the injury research and prevention unit at B.C. Children’s Hospital, said nearly 60 per cent of injured riders had been travelling above the 25 kilometre-an-hour speed limit.