Electric scooter injuries have TRIPLED in the US, study finds

Electric scooters are fast becoming the hip way to get around town, but their surge has led to a major spike in injuries – particularly among young people.

Nearly a third of the patients suffered head trauma – more than twice the rate of head injuries to cyclists – probably because fewer scooter users wear helmets.

According to the new study from the University of California, San Francisco, the number of scooter-related injuries and hospital admissions soared by 222 percent between 2014 and 2018 – with a staggering 39,000 injuries recorded.

In the same period, the number of hospital admissions skyrocketed by 365 percent to a total of nearly 3,300.

Between 2014 and 2018, the number of people hurt in e-scooter pills surged by 222 percent and a third sustained head injuries because the didn’t wear helmets, a new study found 

About a third of the e-scooter injuries were suffered by women, and people between the ages of 18 and 34 were injured the most often for the first time in 2018.

Senior author Dr Benjamin Breyer said: ‘E-scooters are a fast and convenient form of transportation and help to lessen traffic congestion, especially in dense, high-traffic areas.

‘But we’re very concerned about the significant increase in injuries and hospital admissions that we documented, particularly during the last year, and especially with young people, where the proportion of hospital admissions increased by 354 percent.’

The researchers had previously looked at bicycle injuries using the same data set, finding that scooter riders had a higher proportion of head injuries.

Dr Breyer added: ‘There was a high proportion of people with head injuries, which can be very dangerous.

‘Altogether, the near doubling of e-scooter trauma from 2017 to 2018 indicates that there should be better rider safety measures and regulation.’

Despite the rapid growth of electric scooters in cities across the US and Europe in particular, there is still very little regulatory oversight – and no law which states that wearing a helmet is mandatory.

Previous research has shown that only a fraction of e-scooter riders – between two and five pe cent – were wearing helmets when they were hurt.

Riding an electric scooter on the road – or the pavement – is currently forbidden in the UK, with drivers facing a fine and six points on their driving license if they’re caught doing so.

However that has not stopped people using the scooters on UK roads, which can travel faster than 30 miles-per-hour, with sometimes fatal consequences.

Television presenter and YouTube star Emily Hartridge became the first person to die in an accident involving an electric scooter after a collision involving a lorry in south London in July.

And, just a day later, a teenage boy was left badly injured after crashing into a bus stop in Beckenham – suffering severe head injuries.

In the new study, published in the journal JAMA Surgery, the researchers used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System on national estimates of injuries related to emergency room visits.

They found that a total of nearly 40,000 injuries occurred from powered scooters in the US between 2014 and 2018.

The study found that the rate of scooter accidents also increased, from 6 per 100,000 people in 2014 to 19 per 100,000 in 2018.

The most common injuries were fractures (27 percent), contusions and abrasions (23 percent), and lacerations (14 percent).

First author Nikan Namiri, a medical student at UCSF, added: ‘It’s been shown that helmet use is associated with a lower risk of head injury.

‘We strongly believe that helmets should be worn, and e-scooter manufacturers should encourage helmet use by making them more easily accessible.

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