After a summer of unprecedented e-scooter injuries, Dr. Kirstin Weerdenberg took to the airwaves in September to share emergency physicians’ concerns about the popular yet dangerous vehicles.

“We’re seeing a lot of fractures to the face, arms, legs, and some of them are quite serious, requiring procedures and even surgeries,” said Dr. Weerdenberg, an emergency physician and trauma team leader at the IWK and assistant professor in Dalhousie’s Department of Emergency Medicine. “Some of these are life-changing injuries, including head injuries.”

Kirstin told CBC Radio Information Morning listeners in Nova Scotia that the sheer number and severity of injuries is alarming. And the problem is not limited to Nova Scotia—it’s happening Canada-wide.

“We’re all talking about it,” she said of her colleagues in emergency medicine coast to coast. “Us talking about it and sharing our concerns publicly is an important first step.”

More data about the rates and severity of injuries is required to influence policymakers to put new regulations in place—such as mandatory use of helmets, speed limits, rider limits, and rules that keep electric scooters out of busy traffic areas.

“We need data about the number and types of injuries, that show patterns of who is getting injured, in what areas at what times, to guide injury prevention measures,” Kirstin said. “The time to address this is now.”