Injuries using e-scooters, e-bikes and hoverboards jump 70% during the past four years | GTAMotorcycle.com

Injuries using e-scooters, e-bikes and hoverboards jump 70% during the past four years

TK4

TK4

Well-known member
According to advance data from asoon-to-be-released report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on hazard patterns associated with e-scooters, e-bikes and hoverboards, injuries with these “micromobility” products have continued to rise since 2017.

According to CPSC data:

  • There were more than 190,000 emergency room (ED) visits due to all micromobility products from 2017 through 2020. ED visits had a steady 70% increase – from 34,000 in 2017 to 44,000 in 2018; to 54,800 in 2019; and to 57,800 in 2020.
  • Much of the increase between 2017 and later years was attributable to ED visits involving e-scooters, which rose three times as much – from 7,700 in 2017 to 14,500 in 2018; to 27,700 in 2019; and to 25,400 in 2020.
  • Injuries happened most frequently to upper and lower limbs, as well as the head and the neck.
  • CPSC is aware of 71 fatalities associated with micromobility products from 2017 through 2020, although reporting is incomplete.
The hazards associated with micromobility products primarily fall into three broad areas, the CPSC notes: mechanical, electrical and human factors. To address these hazards, CPSC staff continues to work with ASTM International and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to develop and make improvements to voluntary standards. In support of these and other efforts, CPSC has done analyses of incident data and has done testing for the various hazards. CPSC also collaborates with federal partners and industry stakeholders to promote micromobility safety.

The best way to avoid injuries when using micromobility products, CPSC says:

  • Always make sure to wear a helmet.
  • Before riding an e-scooter, make sure to check it for any damage, which includes examining the handlebars, brakes, throttle, bell, lights, tires, cables and frame. Damage to the e-scooter can cause loss of control and lead to a crash.
 
TK4 said:
According to advance data from asoon-to-be-released report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on hazard patterns associated with e-scooters, e-bikes and hoverboards, injuries with these “micromobility” products have continued to rise since 2017.

According to CPSC data:

  • There were more than 190,000 emergency room (ED) visits due to all micromobility products from 2017 through 2020. ED visits had a steady 70% increase – from 34,000 in 2017 to 44,000 in 2018; to 54,800 in 2019; and to 57,800 in 2020.
  • Much of the increase between 2017 and later years was attributable to ED visits involving e-scooters, which rose three times as much – from 7,700 in 2017 to 14,500 in 2018; to 27,700 in 2019; and to 25,400 in 2020.
  • Injuries happened most frequently to upper and lower limbs, as well as the head and the neck.
  • CPSC is aware of 71 fatalities associated with micromobility products from 2017 through 2020, although reporting is incomplete.
The hazards associated with micromobility products primarily fall into three broad areas, the CPSC notes: mechanical, electrical and human factors. To address these hazards, CPSC staff continues to work with ASTM International and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to develop and make improvements to voluntary standards. In support of these and other efforts, CPSC has done analyses of incident data and has done testing for the various hazards. CPSC also collaborates with federal partners and industry stakeholders to promote micromobility safety.

The best way to avoid injuries when using micromobility products, CPSC says:

  • Always make sure to wear a helmet.
  • Before riding an e-scooter, make sure to check it for any damage, which includes examining the handlebars, brakes, throttle, bell, lights, tires, cables and frame. Damage to the e-scooter can cause loss of control and lead to a crash.
Click to expand...
I'm surprised the jump was that little. Ideally the release would have included the estimated number of micromobility devices in service in 2017 and 2020. Are they getting more or less dangerous per mile (or device) than before? More devices equals more injuries is not an interesting conclusion.
 
Yeah I'd say the increase is probably in lockstep with the number of them on the roads, but with a small increase in the number of road rage incidents where a cager got mad and knocked one off the road.
 
mimico_polak said:
Wow. Talked about untapped potential for the insurance industry.
Click to expand...
Is it? From a liability perspective DUI mobiles and LSM's seem really similar. How many DUI mobiles would be on the streets if insurance was more than $1000 a year? I doubt they can give ebikes a palatable rate vastly below LSM (say $100 a year) to ease adoption as it wouldn't be profitable. Maybe province issues ebike plates that include insurance for two bucks a pound a year? That provides incentive for people to buy pedelecs instead of the giant DUI bikes.
 
E-scooters were added to many places even as a pilot project since 2017 which will account for a big spike. They were new to Nashville when I was there in 2019 for a bachelor party. Add e-scooters to a place like Nashville with a massive alcohol-fueled tourist population is asking for injuries. Cabbies/Uber told us there they were a huge liability and people were being injured badly on them on a regular basis.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
E-scooters were added to many places even as a pilot project since 2017 which will account for a big spike. They were new to Nashville when I was there in 2019 for a bachelor party. Add e-scooters to a place like Nashville with a massive alcohol-fueled tourist population is asking for injuries. Cabbies/Uber told us there they were a huge liability and people were being injured badly on them on a regular basis.
Click to expand...
Shared e-scooters/bikes are a great recipe to minimize helmet usage. If you require helmets, the fleet will see very little use as nobody wants to carry a helmet (or share a lice filled brain bucket of dubious provenance).
 
GreyGhost said:
Shared e-scooters/bikes are a great recipe to minimize helmet usage. If you require helmets, the fleet will see very little use as nobody wants to carry a helmet (or share a lice filled brain bucket of dubious provenance).
Click to expand...
I hope anyone stupid enough to not wear a helmet learns the same way I did: hospital trip, fractured skull, flat lined, coma.

Sometimes the stupid needs to be literally knocked out of ppl lol
 
油井緋色 said:
I hope anyone stupid enough to not wear a helmet learns the same way I did: hospital trip, fractured skull, flat lined, coma.

Sometimes the stupid needs to be literally knocked out of ppl lol
Click to expand...
Story time!
 
Here's a dumb helmet story...when I was 16, my buddy and I were bored so we started driving around downtown London wearing helmets in the car. Cops then (and there) didn't have much else to do, so sure enough we got pulled over. I explained to the cop we were just being extra cautious. Off we went on our merry way. with a 26-er under the seat.
 
Freddy Fudpucker said:
Here's a dumb helmet story...when I was 16, my buddy and I were bored so we started driving around downtown London wearing helmets in the car. Cops then (and there) didn't have much else to do, so sure enough we got pulled over. I explained to the cop we were just being extra cautious. Off we went on our merry way. with a 26-er under the seat.
Click to expand...
Occasionally if I am bored I will wear a full-face helmet in the car. People will give you a hell of a lot of space as they assume you are about to do something really dumb.
 
mimico_polak said:
Story time!
Click to expand...

I was 18. High school exams were around the corner. Went out to exercise on a bike. Didn't wear a helmet because I never did. I remember my dad telling me "can you wear a helmet please?"

10 minutes into the ride I clipped a overgrown branch. I don't remember what happened but I remember waking up because a car pulled over to ask if I was okay. Blood was seeping out of my ear. They called my parents then the ambulance was called when I couldn't stand (kept collapsing and seeing white when I tried to get up.)

I remember puking in the ambulance. The rest of this story is from what ppl told me because I have no recollection:

The EMS ****** up and told the hospital I had cuts on my ear. The blood from my ear was actually my brain trying to relieve pressure because it was swollen from the crash. A nurse came by and performed basic sanity tests on me: my brother said I was unresponsive (flashlight into eyes did nothing on pupils, I was not talking.)

I was hooked up after. At one point a "Code Blue" was announced, then I was promptly rushed out. My family didn't know what this meant at the time; we found out 8ish years later when my brother finished his degree and realized "Code Blue" means "somebody is about to die." I had stopped breathing....probably from my brain trying to exit my head to relieve pressure (doc friend told me this later.)

I woke up 3 weeks later. Found out my parents signed a waiver that said "there's a 33% chance this operation fails and you end up with a retarded child." I also have vague memories of waking up before this, scratching my head...only to feel a tube stuffed in there like some horror movie (it was draining the fluids from my head.)

So yea....literally had the stupid beaten out of me. I didn't have to write my exams though and ended up with a 90% average! lol

EDIT: Oh, I lost the high and low frequency hearing on the ear that was bleeding. This caused me to hear two distinct tunes for music. I was a musician at the time and remember crying for days. My brain magically fixed that later. I am very grateful and aware that this could have easily ended with death or something far worse like vegetation state.

TL;DR: ATGATT lol
 
Last edited:
GreyGhost said:
Occasionally if I am bored I will wear a full-face helmet in the car. People will give you a hell of a lot of space as they assume you are about to do something really dumb.
Click to expand...
Its even more fun wearing one into a bank, visor down.
 
My girlfriend's daughter had a very bad accident back in 2016 IIRC...she was the 17 year old girl who crashed her bicycle going down one of those hills in a Brampton park and didn't have a helmet on...she has irreversible brain damage and will be spending the rest of her life as a quadriplegic...so sad as she was an honor's student set to have a great future..if she had just listened to mom, her life would be very different...she too was in a coma, had to have part of her skull removed to allieve the pressure etc. ...it broke up my friend's marriage as well...very sad...
 
GreyGhost said:
Shared e-scooters/bikes are a great recipe to minimize helmet usage. If you require helmets, the fleet will see very little use as nobody wants to carry a helmet (or share a lice filled brain bucket of dubious provenance).
Click to expand...

What quality helmet? $50 or $1000. X-ray for drops or just no obvious cracks, egg shelling? I remember when Toronto M/C cops used what looked like polo helmets.
 
mimico_polak said:
Wow. Talked about untapped potential for the insurance industry.
Click to expand...
I should call an insurance buddy to get a rate. There probably isn't one as the situation is too undefined, unlicensed driver and unlicensed vehicle. I suspect that they may be covered under a homeowner policy like a bicycle or small fishing boat.

So we need to set up licensing. A quick start would be to license the bike with a permanent plate like trailers and an operators card like boats.

If I was an underwriter and saw the crap way these things were being used the premiums would make busa insurance look cheap. Like the 300 pound person on the sidewalk on Yonge street, lunch hour, pre Covid, nice day clumsily weaving between pedestrians, possibly drunk.

I would hate to be the first person seriously injured by one of these things. The rider likely has no assets so who do you sue for long term sustained injuries. The rider could be wearing a helmet but do pedestrians need to wear helmets, just in case they get knocked down. Oops, sorry.

We don't have to look very far to see how little it takes to permanently change the life of a family.

Take all of our MPP's to that steep hill in Brampton and put them on E-bikes at the top, no helmets. Ask them if they will put E-bike laws into place. If they say no give them a push. It's OK for us to accept the risks so why not them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom