Head injuries related to motorized scooters are rising: study

SUNDAY, June 16, 2019 (HealthDay News) – A new study reports that head injuries caused by the use of electric scooters without a helmet are on the rise.

According to a review of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Injury Surveillance System Registry, between 2008 and 2017, nearly 32,000 injuries were estimated nationally. Accidents tripled from about 2,300 in 2008 to nearly 7,000 in 2017.

Most of the casualties were adult men, but one-third of injuries were to children aged 6 to 12, researchers said.

The researchers found that the most common injuries were closed head injuries, such as concussions, and bleeding or bruising to the brain. Cuts and abrasions on the face were also common.

In the accident files that mentioned wearing a helmet, 66% of the wounded did not wear one. Helmet use increased with age, from 19% for younger children to 67% for older cyclists. The helmet laws vary from one state to the other.

The researchers pointed out that electric scooters were not toys and could reach speeds of up to 30 mph.

"The United States should standardize electric scooter laws and licensing requirements should be taken into account in order to reduce risky behavior badociated with the use of motorized scooters," said the United States. lead author of the study, Mr. Amishav Bresler. He resides in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark.

"In 2000, Italy pbaded a law mandating the wearing of helmets to all types of recreational scooter drivers – a law reducing the number of head injuries among motorcyclists of about 27 people on 10,000 before the law was pbaded to about 9 out of 10,000 people, "said Bresler said in a Rutgers press release.

The report was published online recently in the American Journal of Otolaryngology.

More information

The Safer America consumer safety group provides safety tips for electric scooters.