Scooters are skyrocketing in cities, but are they safe? Look at the evidence

May 5, 2019 by World Resources Institute

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Originally posted on the World Resources Institute blog.
by Alejandro Schwedhelm, Anna Bray Sharpin, and Claudia Adriazola-Steil

Electric scooters are the latest 'new mobility' technology to disrupt the transport sector. It is very likely that you have seen someone pass by one of these small but agile two-wheelers in a city near you. Following the explosive growth of bike-sharing and hiking, scooters reached 38.5 million trips to the United States in 2018.

Scooters offer cyclists the same benefits as bike sharing – they allow fast, fun trips over short distances – while being less intimidating for beginners. Like shared bikes, scooters can also bring significant benefits to cities.

Early data suggests that most scooter rides are between one and two miles long. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, if American drivers chose to walk or bike instead of driving for half of the car trips of less than one kilometer, that would save 2 million tonnes of CO2 and fuel. save about $ 900 million in fuel and maintenance costs. . Scooters, such as bicycles, help solve the "last mile" problem – connecting parts of the city with previously inaccessible public transit – and expand access for residents in underserved areas.

Some, however, have expressed concerns about the safety of scooters, because of their small size, lower center of gravity than bicycles, relatively high speed, unexpected breakage and exposure to bikes. conflicts with vehicles or pedestrians.

Recent studies in the United States have shown that driving a scooter carries certain risks. However, they generally indicate that scooters are no more dangerous in terms of risk of serious injury or death than other modes of transportation.

While more data is needed to fully understand the relative risks between modes, we know that cities are becoming more deadly for all non-motorized users – that cars are hitting and killing pedestrians, cyclists, and others at high rates. unacceptable. The arrival of scooters only reinforces the urgency of efforts to improve the safety of people who move to cities without using a car.

Results of 4 recent studies

Scooters are a new phenomenon and there is not much data available in cities yet. However, some studies are looking at data on emerging scooter accidents in US cities. We discuss the first, a CDC study published yesterday, of the greatest length, but also consider three other studies for the context.

Austin, Texas

The Centers for Disease Control and the City of Austin, Texas, have recently published an epidemiological study on scooter-related injuries over a three-month period in the fall of 2018. The study examined several injuries and demographic variables associated with 190 injured runners. , nearly half of whom were considered seriously injured. 15% suffered traumatic brain injury. The sample of cyclists studied gave an injury rate of 20 per 100,000 maneuvers, which means that a person performing four scooter rides a day could expect to be injured. once every 3.5 years.

Fifty-five percent of cyclists were injured on the street, 33% on the sidewalk and 12% elsewhere. The study found that 16% of incidents involved a motorized vehicle directly (a collision) or indirectly (bypassing to avoid a collision). Another 17% involved a border, an object or a manhole.

The study concluded that most head injuries could have been avoided (only one of the injured head riders was wearing a helmet) and proposed two next steps: to strengthen surveillance of emerging vehicle injuries such as scooters and methods of educational messages on safe driving, emphasizing helmet use and maintaining speed.

However, there are other ways to interpret the results. The number of novice runners is one of the factors that may have contributed to the high rate of injuries. More than 60% of the runners surveyed had made less than 10 trips by scooter. More than 30% of the injured were runners for the first time.

In addition, given that 55% of cyclists were injured on the road and that 50% of cyclists surveyed think that the condition of the pavement surface is the cause of their injuries, it would be helpful to proceed with a analysis of the design, quality and maintenance of the road. It would be interesting, for example, to analyze the relationship between the location of the injury and the infrastructure for bikers, such as bike lanes and other design features. A quick visualization of the injuries reported in the study, superimposed on Austin's own database of "great comfort" cycling infrastructure, is a starting point. Most injuries occurred away from protected infrastructure.

Comparing scooter and other injury rates throughout the study period (normalized by travel or hours traveled) could also determine whether city roads pose a serious threat to all vulnerable users or if scooters have special security needs.

Los Angeles

Another recent study involved 249 patients with injuries related to the use of an electric scooter in two emergency departments of a UCLA medical center, in the United States. Southern California. In the space of one year, 32% of these patients who sustained a scooter injury suffered a fracture, 40%, a head injury and 28%, a soft tissue injury. Only 4% of patients wore a helmet at the time of their injury, but most patients (94%) were sent home from the emergency room. Only 2 of 15 admitted patients sustained serious injuries.

This study is particularly interesting because it captured the injuries suffered by the runners. Eighty percent fell off their scooters, 11% collided with an object and 9% were hit by a moving vehicle or object. The study does not say, but it would be interesting to correlate how the riders were injured with the severity of the injury.

Portland, Oregon

As part of the evaluation of a 120-day scooter pilot program, Portland examined a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, including trip data provided by scooter companies, visits to emergency and a representative survey throughout the city.

The findings include:

• Most scooter injuries were minor.
• Scooter injuries accounted for 5% of total injury visits during an accident.
• Of these injuries, 84% result from the fall of a scooter. 13% resulted from a scooter collision with a car.
• The streets with bike paths have had the highest use of scooters.
• People climbed less on the sidewalk when the road had reduced speed limits or protected bike lanes, which proved the importance of a protected infrastructure. safer vehicle speeds minimize conflicts between scooters and pedestrians and cars.

Bird

The Bird scooter company recently released a scooter safety study, which concluded that scooters and bikes share the same risks.

According to a study conducted in 2017 in high-income countries, bicycles produce 59 visits to emergency departments per million kilometers driven. Bird reported an injury rate of 38 injuries per 1 million miles for scooters (based on injuries reported directly to Bird by cyclists). The study also highlighted an association between cities displaying higher safety scores "People for Bicycles" and fewer bird injuries – with the result that making cyclists safer makes cyclists even more secure. safer.

According to a survey of users asking what would make passengers feel safer, most respondents want protected bike lanes, smoother pavement, wider bike lanes and designated parking for scooters.

The hidden factor: road design

These studies could provide information on the potential pitfalls of designing a scooter or on dangerous speeds, which are important safety features. However, as the use of scooters increases, municipal leaders need to consider a risk factor external to cyclist control: the design of our roads.

Over the past decade, the number of people struck and killed while walking has increased by 35%, while the number of vehicle kilometers traveled has increased steadily. In the United States, motorists have killed more pedestrians in 2016 and 2017 than any other year since 1990 and, worldwide, their numbers have also worsened.

The current car-centric design of our roads makes other modes of transportation – most commonly, cycling, scooters and walking – more vulnerable to collisions with cars. These types of unequal collisions are much more deadly than the collisions between people engaged in different modes of micro-mobility and "active" transport.

What can cities do to make their roads safer for scooters and other active modes of transportation? Here are some recommendations from WRI's work:

• Make roads safe by design building protected bike lanes (which can also be used by scooters), redesigning intersections and Traffic calming measures and urban design elements that can save lives such as speed bumps, baffles, raised pedestrian crossings, and upgraded street surfaces. Cities can adapt these types of interventions via "complete streets"and Vision zero programs.
• Manage speeds: Reducing and enforcing speed limits of 50 to 30 kilometers in busy urban areas can reduce the risk of pedestrian or cyclist mortality by 85% to 30%. Narrower lanes, wider sidewalks, raised pedestrian crossings and sidewalk extensions also promote safer speeds.

WRI works in this space to carry out this type of transformation, via its Health and Road Safety team. WRI is also a member of NUMO, the new alliance for urban mobility, which studies the effect of micro-mobility services on cities in multiple ways.

That scooters help turn cities into good, by offering more low-cost and low-carbon transportation options for more people, it will depend on city officials and scooter companies working together to achieve this. goal. For example, the public sector can lobby for policies that allow scooter programs to benefit while preventing security risks. Evidence suggests that high-quality protected cycle paths can protect scooter users. Companies can also do their part by sharing data with cities (many of them have already committed, thanks to the principles of shared mobility) and even helping cities to develop or test the infrastructure needed to make scooters safer.

Keywords: town planning, e-scooter accidents, electric scooters, scooters injury rates, Portland, road design, safety, scooter crash data, scooter riders, scooter safety, scooter tours, principles shared mobility, urban planning