Blue Bombers volunteer seriously injured in collision with e-scooter

A longtime Winnipeg Blue Bombers volunteer was rushed to hospital and now faces months of recovery after being hit by an e-scooter while directing football fans after a home game last month.

The volunteer, a regular face on game days, was “seriously injured” when a person driving an e-scooter struck him on the sidewalk outside Princess Auto Stadium after the July 24 loss to the Calgary Stampeders, team president and CEO Wade Miller confirmed.

“He is receiving care, and our thoughts are with him and his family. We are in close contact with them and offering whatever support we can during a very difficult time,” Miller said in an email.

“We’re grateful to the first responders and stadium staff who acted quickly at the scene, and we ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy as he recovers.”

The Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service confirmed they were called to the stadium after the game and one person was hospitalized in stable condition.

The victim’s family declined to speak on the record, but a family friend told the Free Press his injuries will have lasting impacts: she said he needed emergency neck surgery, had titanium rods inserted in his spine and suffered five compressed vertebrae.

“While the full recovery prognosis is unknown today, he cannot walk unassisted and is having difficulty using his arms and hands. He is looking at two to three months in hospital for spinal cord rehabilitation, with an unknown future for him and his family,” she wrote to the Free Press, requesting anonymity.

She said her friend’s experience had inspired her to “urge our elected officials to enact the needed regulations as quickly as possible.”

The Winnipeg Police Service does not keep statistics on reports involving e-scooters or other personal electric vehicles, but they expect to see the number of reports increase as their popularity continues to grow, a spokesperson said.

Police are waiting on legislation from the province on e-scooters to be put into effect to inform future best practices, said traffic division Insp. Helen Peters.

“The WPS traffic division is aware of growing community concerns.”

“The WPS traffic division is aware of growing community concerns regarding the use of all types of electric vehicles, including e-scooters…. Police agencies and road-safety partners across the province are working together to develop communication and enforcement strategies to help educate everyone on the safety concerns and the new laws that will govern their use,” Peters said in a statement.

On June 1, provincial legislation was passed that would impose bans on operating personal electric vehicles on sidewalks, require drivers to be 16 or older and wear a helmet and restrict speed to a maximum of 25 km/h. But those rules have yet to be put into practice, and possible penalties have yet to be laid out.

While there isn’t a set date when enforcement will begin, Transportation Minister Lisa Naylor said the work to hammer out fine amounts and other details is underway now.

“(I) hoped that we could get this done within the year, and I think we’re on track, so we’ll have more news in the next few months, probably,” she said.

“Until this legislation fully comes into effect, I would hope that Manitobans were starting to kind of follow the letter of the law.”

Now is a good time to practise following the incoming rules to avoid a future fine, Naylor said.

“Until this legislation fully comes into effect, I would hope that Manitobans were starting to kind of follow the letter of the law,” she said.

While at least one city in Manitoba has implemented its own bylaws ahead of the province — in Morden, not wearing a helmet, having more than one rider on a single-person electric device, or riding on sidewalks or on the opposite direction of traffic can now get you a $50 fine or have your scooter impounded — Winnipeg will need to figure out a way to enforce e-scooter laws within a larger population, said Coun. Janice Lukes, city council’s public works chairwoman.

“This is the other part that really worries me — let’s say we come out with a whole bunch of rules, how do we enforce them? The cops, I think, they’ve got five e-bikes… how are five e-bikes going to enforce thousands of these (personal electric vehicles)?” said Lukes (Waverley West).

“Some people, they don’t understand, especially kids, the responsibility when they’re driving these things.”

She called it a “huge, top priority” for the city, and that civic staff are constantly getting emails from residents with concerns about e-scooters and e-bikes.

Lukes said she’s seen a large number of young children on e-scooters in her ward, calling it “terrifying” to watch, as a parent. She’d like to see any rules banning young people from operating the vehicles be properly enforced.

Volodymyr Ishchenko bought an e-scooter this summer. He said the city is lacking in safe, accessible infrastructure for bikes, whether they’re powered by pedals or motors.

“There is not much (of) a road for bicycles, for scooters for any stuff like that people can drive on, so that I’m not bothering just regular walkers, pedestrians,” he said.

He tries his best to be a responsible rider — he was walking his scooter along a Provencher Boulevard sidewalk Monday — and, as popularity around personal electric vehicles increases, he’d like to see a public education campaign on safe operation.

“Some people, they don’t understand, especially kids, the responsibility when they’re driving these things,” he said.

Ashley Esquega, who was riding her e-scooter to an appointment downtown Monday, called calls to ban personal electric vehicles “ridiculous.”

‘I think (their) reputation is kind of crappy, but they are so much fun, and you just gotta have fun with life,” she said.

Mike McKenna knows first-hand how quickly an e-scooter collision can change a pedestrian’s sense of safety.

“I have anxiety getting off the bus every single time.”

He was struck by an e-scooter in July as he stepped off a Winnipeg Transit bus at Main Street and Broadway. The impact threw him onto the pavement and left his left arm badly scraped and cut.

McKenna has physically recovered from the collision, but he said the psychological impact of the incident has not gone away.

“I have anxiety getting off the bus every single time,” he said. “I try to poke my head out and look, and it can hold up people behind me as they’re trying to get off. So, it just hasn’t gone away yet.”

McKenna said he was fortunate to walk away from his collision but worries another pedestrian won’t be as lucky.

“We need to take back our sidewalks,” he said.

— With files from Morgan Modjeski

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca