VIDEO: E-scooters getting lots of rides but lots of complaints too

Two weeks after Kelowna introduced e-scooters, the response has been fairly positive. People are taking about a thousand rides a day. But while riders rack up the miles, the complaints are also rolling in.

The first rule before you ride one of the scooters is that you should be wearing a helmet.

But the problem is, almost no one is carrying a helmet, so almost everyone ignores this rule.

City of Kelowna spokesperson Mariah VanZerr acknowledges that compliance with BC's helmet law has been a problem.

"One of the steps that we're taking is to provide free helmets," said VanZeer. "You can go to the Visitor Centre and ask, 'can I have a helmet?' and they will give you one."

Arda Erturk from Toronto-based Roll, which has a fleet of e-scooters in Kelowna admits it's not easy to get helmets on all riders.

"People who use scooters as a commuter vehicle tend to wear a helmet because they know where to go from point A to point B and then they can carry the helmets," said Erturk. "But for people who take the scooters for fun rides, they're not necessarily carrying helmets with them all the time."

In addition to free helmets at the Visitor Centre on the waterfront, the service providers will also send riders a free helmet to their homes.

The second issue is riding on sidewalks. It's prohibited, but this rule is also widely ignored.

Erturk said his company is working on a plan to force riders to play by the rules.

"We're working on a detection system," he said. And he expects it will be activated soon. "If you ride on the sidewalk we will automatically detect you and we will give you a strike or even account termination."

And Van Zeer suggests that by-law officers or the RCMP will be helping with enforcement. "... to help do friendly reminders and then when necessary, issue fines," she said.

There have also been complaints about e-scooters left haphazardly or in some cases blocking sidewalks.

She said the problem is being taken seriously, and that people should expect things to improve over time.

"Most of our riders of the e-scooters have not really ridden an e-scooter much before," VanZerr added, "so there's a learning curve."

And she's not surprised about the problems and complaints.

"I think we're in a place that we expected to be," she said. The hope is that the big-picture benefits to the transportation system outweigh the problems that emerge.

"We're going to give it a shot, "said VanZerr. "We will do the best we can and we're going to adapt and tweak the program."

The city plans to ramp up enforcement over the next few weeks.