eScooters and head injuries

A much-anticipated US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on the safety of dockless electric scooters in Austin, Texas, found an alarming percentage of head injuries after crashes. 

In an 87-day study time, the CDC & Austin’s Public Health agency identified 271 riders with potential e-scooter-accident-related injuries, & interviewed more than half of them. Striking findings: 45% of incidents involved head injuries & <1% of riders were wearing a helmet.  Among those injured, 15% incurred “traumatic brain injuries.”

During the study period—from Sep 5 to Nov 30, 2018—a total of 936,110 e-scooter trips were taken in Austin, adding up to a total of 182,333 hours & 891,121 miles of e-scooter use. For every 100,000 trips taken, 20 individuals were injured. 

Of those injured, inexperience may have been a critical contributing factor: @ 1/3 were first-time riders, & >60% had been on a scooter 9 times or less. “Maybe that’s not surprising: This is a new technology. They’re unfamiliar with it; they’ve never ridden it,” said Jeff Taylor, Austin’s lead epidemiologist.

Half of those interviewed said that infrastructure problems like potholes/pavement cracks contributed to spills. Together, Austin’s downtown & the University of Texas at Austin were the sites of almost half the injuries.1/3 of riders were injured on sidewalks, while 55% crashed on the streets. Another study on such injuries in Santa Monica—where many scooter companies first launched their fleets—recorded 195 bike-related emergency room visits, compared to 249 scooter-related ones in the same year.

Other findings from that study were consistent with Austin’s report: Only 4.4% of injured LA riders wore helmets, and 40% of them reported head injuries. Even before the study was released in January, legislators in Texas have weighed legislation to regulate scooters in all its cities, citing them as a danger and a nuisance. The state Senate approved a bill to ban them from the sidewalks & require a minimum age requirement of 16. Now that legislation is moving to the House. 

France will ban electric scooters from pavements in September, the transport minister said, in a backlash against a surge of the commuter gizmos invading pedestrian areas. Instead, they will have to use the street or dedicated cycling paths, "so pedestrians are no longer squeezed against walls", the French minister said. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had last month announced measures to protect pedestrians from e-scooters, "especially older people and  children".

The French move follows a decision by Peru to ban escooters from pavements / pedestrian areas from this week. Berlin's City Hall has also drawn up tough new rules for e-scooters, while Barcelona has banned scooter rental service completely. Minister Shane Ross has asked the Road Safety Authority to look at the issue in Ireland.