A rider brain damaged for life. Badly hurt pedestrians. We’re already treating the casualties
HE APPEARED from nowhere and swerved past my eightyear- old daughter on the pavement at 20mph, missing her by a fraction of an inch. The potential killer was in his early 20s and smartly dressed in a crisp dark business suit – almost certainly a young professional on his way through the genteel streets of North London to work in the city centre. He didn’t apologise or even look back.
But he wasn’t a so-called ‘Lycra lout’ cyclist, a distracted 4x4 driver, white van man or speeding motorcyclist. He was one of the growing army of electric scooter riders on our streets and, more particularly, on our pavements.
It seems clear that a lot of people using these machines see them as an easy and fun way to get around. I suspect that few take the elementary precautions of highvis clothing, helmets or other protective equipment. I doubt that many have training on them.
And although it’s currently illegal to ride them on public streets, pavements or bike lanes, few users seem to know.
The Government is currently conducting a trial of electric, or e-scooter, rental fleets in cities across the country with a view to legalisation – a decision is expected within weeks, with Ministers under pressure to legalise them from Green groups, organisations such as Transport for London and from commuters looking for Covid-safe transport.
As head of neurosurgery at the busiest major trauma centre in the UK, I would urge extreme caution.
These machines are new and are largely untested in busy urban environments. Perhaps because they seem like a toy, they are often ridden with a reckless disregard for safety. The consequences are all too serious.
E-scooters are responsible for a growing number of serious injuries to both riders and pedestrians brought into the Royal London Hospital, where I work. We’ve already treated one rider who will suffer brain damage for the rest of his life and, sadly, at least one person has already been killed. (Television presenter Emily Hartridge is believed to have been the first electric scooter rider in this country to die after she was thrown into the path of a lorry in South London in July last year.)
WE’VE also treated a number of pedestrians who have been knocked over by e-scooters on pavements. Typically, their injuries range from broken bones to skull fractures and, in one case, a brain haemorrhage. The most severely hurt have injuries similar to those seen after high-speed cycling accidents.
The evidence from abroad is unambiguous. In Paris, which started its scheme in 2018 and now has 20,000 e-scooters, there has been a trail of chaos and death. Last year, a 30-year-old man died after a motorbike crashed into his e-scooter from behind in the fast lane of a motorway. He wasn’t wearing a helmet and was the third e-scooter fatality in just four months. Another was an 81-year-old man who died after being knocked down on a suburban pavement.
Head injuries are not a trifling matter. My unit sees 250 severe cases a year. These patients can be in hospital for months, one in four will die and recovery for the survivors can take up to two years. Many don’t make a full recovery. They’ll probably never go back to work and may require life- long care and supervision. A significant number have significant personality changes.
Traumatic brain injury costs the UK economy about £ 15 billion a year, is the leading cause of death and disability in under-40s and is now classed as a global epidemic. This is because people – mostly young men – do reckless things.
But there are many reasons why e-scooters are particularly dangerous. One of the biggest problems is that they are new – drivers and pedestrians don’t know what to do when they see them, if they see them at all.
We haven’t worked out what protective equipment is appropriate – most people don’t bother – and we haven’t worked out whether they are best on the road, pavement, bike lane, or none of them. There’s no requirement to have any lessons, pass a test or be insured to ride an e-scooter.
It doesn’t help that the rules are hazy. Though e-scooters are illegal to use on the road – you could be fined £300, notch up six points on your driving licence and have your scooter i mpounded – they are freely available to buy. Machines typically have a maximum speed of 20mph to 30mph, though the rental machines currently being trialled are limited to 15.5mph.
Several rental schemes have rapidly run into problems. Last week, a 12-month trial in Coventry was halted after just five days after local people complained of ‘hell on two wheels’. There were angry reports of speeding riders narrowly missing pedestrians along the city’s pavements and driving on the wrong side of the road.
The hire companies say they encourage riders to wear helmets, but at a recent parliamentary committee hearing, most said helmet enforcement would ‘put people off’. Eleanor Southwood, chair of the Royal National Institute of Blind People told the same committee the top speed for e-scooters should be set as close to walking speed as possible, with a maximum of 12.5mph.
That seems a sensible approach. But instead of insisting that rental machines have relatively l ow power and weight to reduce the momentum of any collision, the Government has taken an opposite approach.
Most scooters are rated at 250 watts, but the Government has set the maximum power rating for hire machines at 500 watts, which would provide incredible acceleration. The Bicycle Association, a trade body representing the UK cycling industry, recommended rental scooters should weigh a maximum of around 44 lb, but the Government set a limit of 120 lb, presumably to allow for larger batteries and reduced charging.
I can easily see how e-scooters may seem an attractive option for anyone returning to work after a Covid-19 furlough. But if they’re allowed on pavements, they will kill pedestrians. And if they’re allowed on the roads, the riders will kill themselves. Meanwhile, weaving in and out of vehicles and pedestrians alike, they are creating fresh uncertainty and danger on already crowded roads and pavements.
There’s also a question of insurance. A typical insurance payout for a 20-year-old who can never work again because of a severe head injury may be in the region of £10 million. Anyone injured by an illegally ridden private e-scooter will likely receive nothing.
I have no plans to ride an e-scooter because I think they are too dangerous. If I had to ride one, I would wear a motorbike helmet and highvisibility clothing. And I wouldn’t head into traffic without practising on a quiet road first.
The emergency services are known for their dark humour. In our parlance, motorbikes are known as ‘ donor cycles’. It’s a grim saying borne out of truth.
We don’t yet have a word for e-scooters. I truly hope we won’t need one.
Typical injuries range from broken bones to skull fractures