More and more, electric scooters are popping up in major U.S. metropolitan areas, giving locals and travelers alike a new method of getting around. Is it actually safe to use these scooters, though, and is anyone going to be accountable if you hurt yourself on one? These are the types of questions that continue to plague the e-scooter industry, and they are also questions anyone considering riding one of these scooters should ask themselves before doing so.
Just how safe is it to use e-scooters as a means of getting around cities and towns? According to ABC 11, while e-scooters may prove to be an effective means of transportation, using them comes with considerable risk. In many cases, the use of e-scooters leads to serious injuries. Additionally, researchers at one major university recently found that the number of injuries related to e-scooter use among riders between the ages of 18 and 34 has climbed 354% within the last five years.
While this figure is undeniably alarming, it also may be conservative, because it refers only to the number of e-scooter-related injuries that riders actually report. In other words, the true percentage increase in the number of e-scooter injuries experienced by users may be much higher.
Just what types of injuries are impacting riders of e-scooters? In about a third of all cases, the people who injured themselves while using e-scooters suffered head injuries. Also, the number of people experiencing head injuries related to e-scooter use is more than twice the head injury rate seen among cyclists. This may be due, at least in part, to the fact that cyclists are typically more likely to wear helmets than e-scooter users.
