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- Prior to 2018, the year electric scooters were introduced, no more than 13 injuries associated with these modes of transportation were recorded annually.
- Since its widespread use in major cities, 595 infections were recorded in 2018 and 672 infections in 2019.
They have taken over the sidewalks, roads, and bike paths of major cities. “Electric scooters are becoming popular, but injuries to riders and pedestrians have not been well characterized.” This was stated by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). To determine the injuries associated with the use of this urban transportation and to estimate the incidence rate for each trip, they implemented Work published in the magazine PLUS ONE April 6.
For the purposes of the study, scientists analyzed the medical records of people who had a traffic accident. These were treated at 180 Los Angeles major clinics and hospitals between January 1, 2014 and May 14, 2020. Injuries were identified, calculated, and described using an algorithm. “We combine these numbers with municipal data on e-scooter use to report the average monthly rate of use for scooter-related injuries,” The authors said.
No more injuries with electric scooters
According to the results, the rate of injuries caused by e-scooter is estimated at 115 injuries per million trips, which is a higher rate than in other modes of transportation (motorcycle, bicycle, car, walking). Injuries relate to drivers of this machine as well as pedestrians. Of the 1,354 people injured by electric scooters, 30% were admitted to the emergency room, 29% required advanced imaging, 6% were hospitalized and 2 died.
According to researchers, accidents with e-scooters are more frequent. “However, the relative severity of infection is unknown. Our methodology may be useful in investigating other clinical conditions that cannot be identified by current diagnostic systems,” the study concluded.
