Abstract
Objective: To determine self-reported incidences of health and safety hazards among persons who ride rentable electric scooters (e-scooters), knowledge of e-scooter laws, and attitudes and perceptions of the health and safety of e-scooter usage.
 Methods: A cross-sectional survey of n= 561 e-scooter riders and non-riders was conducted during June of 2019.
 Results: Almost half of respondents (44%) report that e-scooters pose a threat to the health and safety of riders. Riders and non-riders disagree regarding the hazards that e-scooters pose to pedestrians. Among riders, 15% report crashing or falling off an e-scooter. Only 2.5% of e-scooter riders self-report that they always wear a helmet while riding.
 Conclusions: E-scooter riders report substantial rates of harmful behavior and injuries. Knowledge of e-scooter laws is limited, and e-scooters introduce threats to the health and safety of riders, pedestrians on sidewalks, and automobile drivers. Enhanced public health interventions are needed to educate about potential health risks and laws associated with e-scooter use and to ensure health in all policies. Additionally, greater consideration should be given to public health, safety, and injury prevention when passing relevant state and local e-scooter laws.
Highlights
Overnight, rentable electric motorized scooters (e-scooters) appeared in cities around the country
Some cities considered banning e-scooters, those that have approved their use since September of 2017, have passed regulations banning e-scooters from sidewalks, setting parameters for the times that e-scooters may be used, and extending “operating while intoxicated” laws to include e-scooters (Hawkins, 2019b; Hawkins, 2019c; May & Hill, 2018; May, 2019; Renki, 2019; Sikka et al, 2019)
The most comprehensive examination of e-scooter injuries undertaken to date was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with the Austin, Texas Public Health Department (Austin Public Health, 2019). Examining both Emergency Services (EMS) and emergency department (ED) visits over a three-month period in 2018, this study reported a total of 192 injuries resulting in a clinical visit
Summary
Rentable electric motorized scooters (e-scooters) appeared in cities around the country. In addition to creating a new form of transportation, they introduce new public health and safety concerns and the need for new laws and regulations (Choron & Sakran, 2019). More than 50 cities in the United States allow the use of e-scooters (Bird, n.d.a; Lime, n.d.). The goals of e-scooter regulations are to protect the health and safety of e-scooter riders as well as non-riders, such as pedestrians and drivers. Questions arise as to whether these initial regulatory attempts substantively respond to the novel morbidity and mortality risks associated with e-scooter proliferation and use
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