The characteristics of dockless electric rental scooter-related injuries in a large U.S. city

The Effect of Nighttime Rental Restrictions on E-Scooter Injuries at a Large Urban Tertiary Care Center

“…Approximately 16% of e-scooter riders classified as certain in our study were injured from interaction with motor-vehicles. This is slightly higher than the findings of previous studies where, motor-vehicles were associated with between 10% and 12.5% of injured patients [ 2 , 5 , 13 , 14 ]. Reasons for this difference unclear but may be associated with more and better infrastructure for cyclists in cities with lower rates of motor-vehicle involvement in e-scooter injuries.…”

“…A retrospective analysis of data from the U.S. National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) revealed a 354% increase in injuries from powered scooters in 18- to 34-year-olds between 2017 and 2018 (222% across all age groups), which coincides with the introduction of e-scooter ride-sharing programs in the United States [ 8 ]. Data from several retrospective series of emergency department (ED) cases indicate that injured riders are more likely to sustain extremity fractures and head injuries than other injury types and riders may be more likely to suffer fractures or head/face injuries while operating e-scooters than other forms of micromobility [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Consistent with these injury patterns and field observations, helmet use in the ED-treated population is low [ 13 , 14 ].…”

“…Data from several retrospective series of emergency department (ED) cases indicate that injured riders are more likely to sustain extremity fractures and head injuries than other injury types and riders may be more likely to suffer fractures or head/face injuries while operating e-scooters than other forms of micromobility [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Consistent with these injury patterns and field observations, helmet use in the ED-treated population is low [ 13 , 14 ]. E-scooters injuries also represent a burden on the healthcare system, with between 80% and 90% of injured e-scooter riders requiring some form of radiologic imaging, and 14–33% requiring surgical intervention [ 9 , 10 , 12 ]…”

“…Despite this, surveillance of e-scooter injuries using medical data has been limited primarily because the injury coding system employed by hospitals, ICD-10, lacked coding specific to e-scooter and dockless electric micromobility device related injuries (henceforth referred to as e-scooter injuries) prior to October 2020 [ 14 , 15 ]. As a result, collection of medical data on e-scooter injuries has largely depended on key word searches of records and consistent and accurate medical documentation factors associated with injury such as helmet use and precrash behavior.…”

Prescribing active transport as a planetary health intervention – benefits, challenges and recommendations

“…Despite the many benefits of active transport, there may be a risk of injury, particularly for those riding scooters or bicycles [63][64][65][66]. Interestingly, when using e-scooters the majority of injuries were due to falling from the scooter (84.7-91.7%), with a low percentage of injuries related to motor vehicle accidents (2.8-9.7%) [63,66]. When recommending active transport to patients, physiotherapists should assess the safety risks of active transport for the individual patient.…”