Woman dies after e-scooter collides with bus in downtown Vancouver
Police say the 19-year-old woman and a man were not wearing helmets when their scooter hit a transit bus.
VANCOUVER · A 19-year-old woman was killed in a collision between an e-scooter and a transit bus in downtown Vancouver Saturday morning. Vancouver police say the crash happened around 5:30 a.m. when a man and woman riding one e-scooter northbound on Seymour Street entered the intersection at West Pender Street. They collided head on with the side of a westbound bus near its rear. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, and the man, in his early 20s, was not injured.
"From the evidence, it seems as though she almost died immediately upon the collision," said Vancouver Police Department Sgt. Adam Donaldson during a media availability Saturday afternoon. Police confirmed the pair were not riding a Lime-brand scooter. Investigators are reviewing video surveillance and working to determine who was driving the e-scooter and whether the riders had the right of way when entering the intersection.
Donaldson said there is no evidence indicating the riders were intoxicated at the time of the crash. He confirmed that neither rider was wearing a helmet. "It seems as though every few months I'm talking about a severe injury or a death from an e-scooter," said Donaldson. "It seems as though people aren't following the rules." E-scooter safety has faced increasing scrutiny in Vancouver following a summer that recorded both a death and a serious injury involving the devices. In September, police launched an enforcement blitz targeting unsafe e-scooter behaviour, handing out more than 200 tickets and over 1,000 warnings for violations. The majority of the stops were for people not wearing helmets.
Police said the enforcement blitz in September resulted in 1,275 tickets and warnings combined. "If you're going to buy a scooter and ride it, make sure that you know the rules of the road and you're operating it safely," said Sgt. Donaldson. CBC News has reached out to TransLink but has yet to receive a response about the incident. Police are asking anyone who witnessed Saturday's crash or who has dashcam, security or cellphone video to contact them at 604-717-3012 or by email at [email protected].
With files from CBC News and Vancouver Sun