Injury patterns and circumstances associated with electric scooter collisions: a scoping review

Abstract

BackgroundElectric scooters are personal mobility devices that have risen in popularity worldwide since 2017. Emerging reports suggest that both riders and other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, have been injured in electric scooter-associated incidents. We undertook a scoping review of the current literature to evaluate the injury patterns and circumstances of electric scooter-associated injuries.MethodsA scoping review of literature published from 2010 to 2020 was undertaken following accepted guidelines. Relevant articles were identified in Medline, Embase, SafetyLit and Transport Research International Documentation using terms related to electric scooters, injuries and incident circumstances. Supplemental searches were conducted to identify relevant grey literature (non-peer-reviewed reports).ResultsTwenty-eight peer-reviewed studies and nine grey literature records were included in the review. The current literature surrounding electric scooter-associated injuries mainly comprises retrospective case series reporting clinical variables. Factors relating to injury circumstances are inconsistently reported. Findings suggest that the head, upper extremities and lower extremities are particularly vulnerable in electric scooter falls or collisions, while injuries to the chest and abdomen are less common. Injury severity was inconsistently reported, but most reported injuries were minor. Low rates of helmet use among electric scooter users were noted in several studies.ConclusionElectric scooters leave riders vulnerable to traumatic injuries of varying severity. Future work should prospectively collect standardised data that include information on the context of the injury event and key clinical variables. Research on interventions to prevent electric scooter injuries is also needed to address this growing area of concern.

Characteristics and Risk Factors for Electric Scooter-Related Crashes and Injury Crashes among Scooter Riders: A Two-Phase Survey Study

“…In 2019, Americans accounted for an estimated 88.5 million e-scooter trips, representing an almost 130% increase compared to the 38.5 million rides with e-scooters in 2018 [ 10 ]. Nevertheless, along with the global expansion of personal e-scooter ownership, and station-based and dockless e-scooter sharing systems, the increasing number of e-scooter-related injuries has also become an emerging public health concern among riders and other road users across the world [ 1 , 10 , 11 ].…”

It is time to get virtual: limitations of shared e-scooter mobility points, case study in Cracow (Poland)

“…(Lynch 1981, p. 188) E-scooter sharing schemes broaden the physical accessibility of space but can impair the right to access for pedestrians. As our own research shows, the main problem that the pedestrians have with e-scooters is abandoned vehicles and acting against riding ethics (Gauquelin, Schlebus, Faure 2020;Toofany et al 2021). As such, it impairs public interest in what the space serves.…”

“…Gauquelin, Schlebusch and Faure (2020) with Riggs and Kawashima (2020) demonstrate that the shift to define clear managerial practices for the operators of e-scooter sharing services is currently undergoing throughout Europe, but the portfolio of new issues varies greatly. For illustration, the challenges are connected not only with urgent problems, such as safety on the roads and streets (Allem, Majmundar 2019;Choron, Sakran 2019;Trivedi et al 2019;Todd et al 2019;Namiri et al 2020;Yang et al 2020;Toofany et al, 2021), but also with more system-wide problematics. For example, how to manage the e-scooter sharing systems or how to integrate them into the current transport network (Oeschger, Caroll, Caulfield 2020) and urban land nexus, which are described later.…”

Facial injury patterns associated with stand-up electric scooters in unhelmeted riders

“…They have recently been highlighted as a new means of transportation because they can be used conveniently in large cities. In recent years, the number of people riding stand-up electric scooters in South Korea has increased rapidly [ 1 , 2 ].…”

“…They have recently been highlighted as a new means of transportation because they can be used conveniently in large cities. In recent years, the number of people riding stand-up electric scooters in South Korea has increased rapidly [1,2].Several studies are being conducted globally on the injury patterns associated with stand-up electric scooter-related trauma. However, in South Korea, studies on these injury patterns have not been actively pursued because stand-up electric scooters were only introduced in South Korea relatively recently.…”