The Downside Of Electric Scooters

Forbes

a day ago

As I posted in this column previously, I was in a debilitating electric scooter accident back in April – toppling over the handlebars and smacking my head on the ground. Accomplished at riding these vehicles and feeling invincible, I was shocked as anyone at the extent of damage in my right elbow as a result of the fall. Essentially the nerve up and down my arm popped out of its channel. The pain was excruciating, constant and inescapable. But I'm back, baby. After 10 weeks or so of physical therapy sessions and monotonous daily exercises, the nerve finally returned to its proper place. I almost never feel the numbness or pain anymore.I'm back working. I can sit in a car again. I can sleep on my right side. I can use a fork to eat. I can hit a golf ball, play pickleball, and even ride my bike again. What I won't be doing: Going on an electric scooter.Apparently my experience is not isolated. In a new study, ERideHero sourced electric scooter injury data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's NEISS Database, which collects data on consumer product-related injuries from a sample of 100+ American E.R. departments. The database provides weighting scores for each injury entry, which allowed officials to extrapolate estimatesThe result: In 2024, the number of e-scooter injuries rose by 80 percent, from 64,312 to 115,713. In truth, there were probably a lot more if people like me didn't report any to emergency rooms. Scary. And maybe because they ride more than older people – or because they're less versed at it – children are incurring a higher proportion of e-scooter injuries. Kids younger than 15 had more than double the number of accidents in 2024, from the year before. The age group that suffers the most injuries is 15-to-24-year-olds. More than 10,000 injuries involved riders under the influence last year, as well – 68 percent of alcohol-related e-scooter injuries result in head trauma, compared to just 28 percent among non-alcohol-related injuries.The study also points out that recent research suggests it's not that electric scooters are intrinsically dangerous, but that it's the behavior or riding style of the users that keeps injury levels high among riders and pedestrians alike. If someone isn't looking – while riding or walking – that can be a recipe for disaster. I witnessed one such incident in downtown San Diego in which an elderly person stepped off a curb and never saw a scooter rider who was flying by. Lots of blood, but somehow the pedestrian was able to walk away.The study also revealed that helmets save lives – 18.42 percent (20,960) of all e-scooter injuries in 2024 were head injuries. This doesn't include injuries to the face and sensory organs. In fact, the head and joints of the extremities commonly take the brunt of a fall. In descending order, the head, face, knee, shoulder and wrist were the top five body parts injured. The elbow – as in my case – was sixth.As for when these accidents tend to happen, it's on the weekends when I'm guessing more people are riding them. Some 16.29 percent of all e-scooter injuries in 2024 occurred on a Saturday, while 15.12 percent occurred on Sunday.What to make of all this: If you're going to ride an electric scooter, be smart and alert. Watch the pathway ahead of you. Don't go too fast. And wear some padding. I'm guessing I've ridden e-scooters nearly 1,000 times over the past seven years. And if I can fall, anyone can.