The electric scooter: A surging new mode of transportation that comes with risk to riders

Abstract

Objective: The proliferation of electric scooter sharing companies has inundated many municipalities with electric scooters. The primary objective of this study is to characterize the epidemiology of injuries from this new mode of transportation in order to inform injury prevention efforts.Methods: A multicenter, retrospective study was conducted at two level 1 trauma centers in an urban setting. Patients seen in the emergency department from September 4, 2018 to November 4, 2018 were included if injury coding and chart review identified a scooter-related injury. Demographics, injury patterns, and other injury related factors were obtained via chart review.Results: Ninety-two patients were identified over the study period in 2018 with electric scooter-related injuries. Of the patients utilizing an electric scooter; none used protective gear and 33% used alcohol prior to presentation. More than 60% of patients required medical intervention including laceration repair (26%), fracture reduction (17%), operative fixation of a fracture (7%), or arterial embolization for an associated arterial injury (1%). Approximately 10% of patients required inpatient admission and one required an admission to the intensive care unit.Conclusion: We found a substantial increase in the number of scooter-related injuries during the first two months of electric scooter legalization. There was a lack of safety equipment utilization and concomitant alcohol utilization was common. These may offer areas of focus for injury prevention efforts. Additionally, standardization of injury coding for electric scooter related injury is critical to future studies and will help better understand the impact of this new mode of transportation.