Young, drunk, and no helmet: electric scooters are fuelling more injuries and hospitalisations

Underage, inebriated, and helmet-free scooter riders are fuelling a new wave of medical emergencies in a trend that experts warn could quickly spread throughout Australia.

Underage, drunk, and helmet-free scooter riders are fuelling a new wave of medical emergencies in a trend that experts warn could quickly spread throughout Australia.

A new study into electric scooters, like those currently trialled in Brisbane and Melbourne, found the two-wheeled vehicles sent more than 200 riders and bystanders to two hospital emergency departments in just one year, with more than one in 10 victims a child, and 15 patients admitted to hospital with serious injuries.

Polaris Lawyers founder Nick Mann warned more safeguards were needed to protect Australian pedestrians and riders from harm, as other overseas studies showed electric scooter crashes could be “the equivalent of being hit by a baseball bat”.

”Who foots the bill?” — Nick Mann Picture Glenn Hampson

The new study from researchers at UCLA, and published in the JAMA Network Open journal, analysed medical records at two Californian hospitals in the 12 months until August last year.

It found 249 people reported injuries from riding or standing near an electric scooter, ranging from fractures and head injuries to contusions, sprains, and lacerations.

Most seriously, 15 people were admitted to hospital for their injuries, and two patients required treatment for severe injuries in an intensive care unit.

The study also found more than 10 per cent of victims were under the age of 18, almost five per cent of riders were intoxicated, and very few were wearing a helmet when injured (just 4.4 per cent).

“If you hop on a bike drunk, that counts as drinking and driving,” — electric scooter provider Lime spokeswoman. Picture: Peter Wallis

Dr Frederick Rivara from the University of Washington’s Injury Prevention and Research Center, said the research demonstrated the need for safety equipment and regulations to keep up with the new mode of transport.

“Just as helmet manufacturers responded to the increased demand for bicycle helmets with new and attractive products priced very affordably,” he said, “these manufacturers should develop and promote use of helmets appropriate for electric scooters and bikes.”

Mr Mann said state governments and local councils should also think carefully about insurance and registration for electric scooters as crashes could not only be devastating, but their lack of insurance could hurt victims a second time.

“I’ve seen data from the US and it shows being hit by an electric scooter can be the equivalent of being hit by a baseball bat,” Mr Mann said.

“If you step on to your footpath and you’re hit, there’s no insurance that goes with that. Who foots the bill?”

Being hit by a scooter is “the equivalent of being hit by a baseball bat”. Picture AAP/David Clark

A spokeswoman for Lime, which is currently running a large-scale electric scooter trial in Brisbane, a smaller trial on Monash University’s Clayton campus in Melbourne, and an electric bike trial in Sydney, said the company provided helmets with scooters, and “always encouraged our users to wear a helmet if they can, whether one we provide or a personal helmet”.

Riders should also never use a scooter after drinking alcohol, the spokeswoman warned, and those who did could be charged by the police.

“If you hop on a bike drunk, that counts as drinking and driving,” she said.

“When you sign up to Lime, in our terms of service it states you should not be riding under the influence of alcohol.”

The warning comes just one week after a 43-year-old Brisbane man was charged for driving a Lime scooter with a blood alcohol concentration three times the legal limit, at 0.174 per cent.

Originally published as Young, drunk, and no helmet: electric scooters are fuelling more injuries and hospitalisations