499 E-scooters: fast and fun, but a risky form of transport?

Background and Study Aims E-scooters, offer an accessible, environmentally friendly and cost-effective travel mode and increasingly popular. However, very little is known about the rider safety. This study aimed to examine injury data to improve understanding of e-scooter-related injuries (to riders themselves and other road users). Methods Emergency Department (ED) data managed by VISU was accessed. Selection criteria included: Cases during July 2021-June 2022; If the 'description of event' text contained terms 'scooter', 'electric', 'e-scooter' and variations/derivatives. Results Demographics: A total of 427 cases presented during the 12-month period. Over half of injured e-scooter riders (57.8%) were young (aged 29 years and younger) and 68 percent were male. Children under 14 years of age were most likely injured when riding privately owned e scooters. Body region: Head/neck injury was the most common region injured (23.2%), followed by extremities (wrist/hand, knee/lower leg and ankle/foot) (33.0%), shoulder and arm (upper arm, elbow & forearm) (22.4%), and multiple body regions (14.8%). Nature of Injury: Fractures represented 34.7% of cases, followed by dislocation and sprain/strain (11.2%) and open wound (11.0%). A substantial proportion were other/unspecified (27.9%). Cause of injury: The majority of riders were injured as a result of falling. In addition, 7% were injured as a result of a collision with a car/van and 6.3% were involved in a transport injury. Only a small proportion of injuries were sustained by other vulnerable road users (pedestrians and cyclists) as a result of an incident with an e-scooter. Discussion Our findings suggest that significant injuries are sustained by e-scooter riders and increasing, resulting in substantial injuries, and most commonly related to a fall from the scooter. The increasing frequency of e-scooter-related trauma and the findings regarding injury characteristic suggest that further research and efforts to improve behaviour, regulation and infrastructure are warranted.