Brain injuries and smashed teeth: Hospitals grapple with doubling in e-scooter injuries

Almost 1000 e-scooter riders were rushed to Victorian emergency departments with crash injuries last year, according to new data that shows an almost doubling of hospital presentations linked to the electric vehicles.

The figures, exclusively obtained by The Age, have sparked calls from doctors for tighter rules and an education campaign to curb e-scooter injuries among children and adults.

E-scooter riders say they are a fun and convenient way to get around.Credit: Jason South

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Victorian chair Dr Patrick Lo, recently treated three children, aged 11, 13 and 15, who had suffered a brain haemorrhage, brain swelling and a broken neck following separate e-scooter accidents that occurred in the same week.

“These are life-changing injuries that may mean they can’t finish school, go onto tertiary study or get a job,” the paediatric neurosurgeon said. “They may have memory loss, learning difficulties and no ability to control themselves.”

The college will raise its concerns with Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas at an upcoming meeting and is calling on the government to roll out an education program to teach riders how to use e-scooters safely.

The Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset figures reveal public emergency department presentations linked to e-scooter accidents increased from 502 in 2021-22 to 958 last financial year.

This steep rise coincided with the rollout of Victoria’s e-scooter trial, which has involved 2500 Neuron and Lime rental scooters being distributed across Melbourne, Port Phillip and Yarra council areas since February 2022. It also comes amid the surging popularity of private e-scooters, which were legalised for use on public roads in March.

The data does not distinguish between accidents involving hire or private e-scooters. But it does show that most emergency department presentations involve men, and riders aged between 20 and 29.

Most accidents took place on roads, streets and highways, with falls from e-scooters making up the bulk of emergency department presentations, followed by collisions with other motorists.

The head was the most common body part wounded in accidents.

While the minimum age to ride an e-scooter is 16, at least 193 emergency department presentations over the past three years involved children below this age.

Emergency department staff have also treated 42 pedestrians who were injured by e-scooters during this time.

Australian Medical Association Victorian emergency physician Dr Sarah Whitelaw said these cases were the tip of the iceberg, with GPs and private hospitals also treating hundreds of injured riders not included in the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset.

She said e-scooter injuries were associated with not wearing helmets, riding at high speeds and being intoxicated with alcohol or drugs.

She called on Victorian councils to follow the lead of Brisbane City Council and enact a lockout period for scooter hiring between midnight and 5am on Friday and Saturday nights.

“We’re seeing horrible facial injuries, young people with all their teeth knocked out,” she said. “This would really make a difference.”

A recent study at the Royal Melbourne Hospital estimated that the cost of the hospital treating 247 riders and nine pedestrians with scooter crash injuries in 2022 was $1.9 million.

Bill Siegloff, 52, wound up in hospital for 11 days in September after hitting a metal pole jutting out of a bollard and flying over the handlebars of a rented e-scooter.

Bill Siegloff, who wound up in hospital for 11 days last year after an e-scooter accident near Rod Laver Arena.

Siegloff, who was discharged from the Army due to knee injuries, had hired the scooter after an ice hockey match at Rod Laver Area because he thought it would be easier than the two-kilometre walk to his car.

“I remember going through the air, then the lights went out and when I woke up four people were looking down on me,” he recalled.

He suffered a fracture above his eye, two broken ribs, cuts on his hand and ear and tore his shoulder muscle. He’s still experiencing pins and needles in his hand and has lost a lot of strength.

Siegloff said he wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time of the accident because the supplied one did not fit his head.

His lawyer, Slater and Gordon public liability senior associate Peter Mileto, is calling for a compensation scheme to help pay for medical and rehabilitation expenses and loss of income for people seriously injured by e-scooters.

“[T]hey can be very dangerous, and we’re regularly approached by people who’ve been injured while riding one, after being struck by one, or after taking evasive action to avoid one,” he said.

A government spokesman said decisions on the future of e-scooters in Victoria would be informed by data.

“E-scooter riders should always wear a helmet, stick to the speed limit and only ride on shared paths or roads with a speed limit of up to 60 km/h,” he said.

The spokesman said while there had been an increase in injuries, this was proportionate to the significant growth in e-scooter use.

Spokeswomen from Lime and Neuron said 99.99 per cent of their e-scooter trips ended safely.

“Each Lime vehicle is fitted with a helmet, and controlled through geo-fencing technology,” a spokeswoman said, pointing out that all new users must undergo a safety quiz.

A Neuron spokesman said its e-scooters were “equipped with the latest safety technology, much of which is not seen on private e-scooters, including geofencing technology that controls where e-scooters can be ridden and parked and how fast they can travel in different areas”.