Injuries pile up in US with e-scooter craze says survey
MORE than 1,500 people have been treated for injuries from using batter y-powered electric scooters in the US since the craze began in late 2017, a Consu mer Repor t s su r vey showed.
T he nonprof it consu mer magazine said its ta lly, based on reports from hospitals and emergency officials, is incomplete a nd does not i nclude four reported fatalities linked to e-scooters.
Still, it counted 1,542 cases of emergency t reat ment for scooter-related injuries af ter contacting 110 hospita ls and five agencies in 47 cities where the t wo biggest scooter companies operate.
The scooter rideshare craze, which enables consumers to r e nt a nd d r op t he t wowheeled dev ices for shor t t r ips, has been ha i led a s a potential revolution for urban transport.
But a nu mber of med ia reports have highlighted t he potentia l dangers of scooter use eit her on sidewa l k s on cit y st reets a nd roads. This week a 21-y e a r- old I r i s h exchange student died after being struck by a car on his s c ooter i n Au s t i n, Te x a s , according to media.
Consumer Reports, which released its report on Tuesday, said hospitals treated people for concussions, nasa l f ractures, forearm fractures, and other injuries, some requiring surger y.
While major e-scooter firms encourage users to wear helmets, t here a re few reg ulations requiring t hem.
The maga z i ne sa id more t han half of t hose contact in t he su r vey had no deta i led data for scooter injuries and that it was not possible to calculate the rate of incidents for dista nce travelled.
It said many medical professiona ls suggested t he tota l number of injuries is higher t hat t he r epor t e d f i g u r e because hospitals don’t have the capability yet to accurately track specific scooter-related injuries.
“E le c t r ic s c ooter s a r e a promisi ng new t ra nspor tation option, but safet y always must come f i r st ,” Wi l l ia m Wallace, a senior policy analyst for Consumer Repor ts, was quoted as say ing.
Two US-ba s e d st a r t ups, Bi rd a nd L i me, have been g row i ng rapid ly, i nclud i ng i nt er nat iona l l y, a nd have reached va luat ions of more t han $1 billion. Others in t he segment include ridesharing g roup Ly f t, Ford-back Spi n and Skip.
It may be complicated to assess t he safet y of scooters compared wit h bicycles, for example, without better data on how ma ny people use scooters.
Paul White, director of safet y at Bird, said t he injur y f igures lack contex t a nd don’t ta ke into account t hat scooters reduce auto tra f f ic.
“Driv ing is much deadlier for ever yone, as ev idenced by t he 6,000 pedestria ns k i l led on US roads in 2017,” White said.
“We are proud to prov ide a t r a nspor t at ion a lter nat i ve t hat gets people out of cars – not only to reduce car related fata lit ies, but to be part of a cl i mate solut ion t hat w i l l move cit ies for wa rd i nto a sa fer, smarter f ut ure for us a l l.”