SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Hospitals nationwide are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of electric scooter injuries, particularly in the last three years as companies and cities push for alternative forms of transportation, according to a new study published in JAMA Surgery.
It's one of the first pieces of evidence that could frustrate attempts to decongest highly trafficked urban areas with e-scooters. Cities across the country are betting on a transportation future that's environmentally cleaner than it is today.
The study raises the question of whether it will also be safer.
Researchers at UC San Francisco used data that tracks injuries at a sample of hospitals across the country, focusing on cases involving scooters during a five-year period ending in 2018. They found that the rate of injuries jumped from 6 to 19 cases for every 100,000 people _ a three-fold increase.
The largest share of the injuries _ about one-third in 2018 _ were to the head or the legs. But researchers said the concern is greater for potential head trauma that can be more severe and more difficult to recover from.
People under the age of 34 accounted for the largest shares of hospital admissions, including children under 18. And urban hospitals saw nearly six times more scooter injuries than rural facilities.
Dr. Benjamin Breyer, the lead author of the study and a urologist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, said the study, which was published as a "research letter," originated from seeing injuries related to scooter usage at the hospital after shared bikes and then scooters were introduced in San Francisco.
"When we looked at bicycles about 16% of the time someone presented to the emergency room it was a head injury but it was close to 1 in three for the scooter," Breyer said. "A lot of that has to do with people not wearing helmets when they ride scooters. The position you're in standing upright, you're probably not (able) to brace for a fall."
The study builds on a similar work that examined e-scooter injuries in Los Angeles and was published a year ago.
Sacramento city officials say e-scooters are the fastest-growing segment of the local transportation market and are expected to increase considerably. Jump and Lime e-scooters have been licensed to operate in Sacramento since last year.
The city recently approved plans by Spin and Bird to put their scooters on the street by this spring. Spin is expected to launch later this month, and Bird likely rolls out its scooters in February.
Meanwhile, other local cities, including Rancho Cordova and Elk Grove, are in talks with e-scooter providers for potential pilot projects as well.
Lime officials said in an email that the study didn't account for the rising popularity of e-scooters. It's reasonable that injuries would rise because there are more scooters on the street, the company said.
"Lime's highest priority is the safety of our riders, and we advance this through rider education, community engagement, product innovation and policy development," Nick Shapiro, a vice president at Lime, said in a prepared statement. "As a two-year-old industry providing incredibly valuable new transportation options for millions of people around the world, we appreciate UCSF's attention on this important topic and remain committed to ensuring safe rides for all users."
On the safety front, Lime notably temporarily pulled its scooters off the streets this winter for both safety and economic reasons. Lime officials said scooters are used considerably less in inclement and cold weather, and they are more risky to use.
A Lime official said though the withdrawal of the scooters was mainly an economic move. The company can avoid extra maintenance costs needed from wear and tear during a lull in the winter. The scooters will be back on the streets, Lime said, when the weather improves and ridership demand spikes.
"The city of Sacramento is committed to transportation safety," Jennifer Donlon Wyant, a transportation planning manager for the city, said in a prepared statement. "Since permitting shared-rideable e-scooters in February 2019, the City has required shared-rideable operators (both bike and scooter) to provide education to their members, unlike some cities."
Recent data suggests e-scooters could surpass e-bikes as the leading shared-rideable in Sacramento this spring. In the second half of 2019, users took 450,000 scooter trips compared to 550,000 bike trips.
By March, Donlon Wyant estimated there will be 3,000 scooters on city streets and 1,000 bikes. She calls the scooters a key part of the city's efforts to turn more city streets into so-called "multi-modal corridors," designed to be safer for bikes, scooters, and pedestrians.
That includes an upcoming expansion of "parking protected" bike and scooter lanes. The city currently has installed the protected lanes on 25 blocks downtown. This year, it will work toward adding another 60 blocks of safer riding zones for bikes and scooters.
But Breyer, the UCSF researcher, said a solution to avoiding injury is much simpler: require helmets. Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that exempted adults from wearing helmets while riding e-scooters in 2018.
Breyer compared the e-scooters to skiing a little more than a decade ago when most people opted to go without a helmet.
After a couple of high-profile accidents, he said attitudes changed.
"If you go out skiing, today on the slopes everybody is wearing a helmet," Breyer said. "If the public is aware and there is a culture of wearing helmets, people will do it."
