E-scooters are linked with injuries and hospital visits – but we can’t say they are riskier than bikes yet
E-scooters are linked with injuries and hospital visits – but we can’t say they are riskier than bikes yet
TLDR:
Most of these incidents involve males in their late 20s or early 30s, commonly sustaining head, face and limb injuries. There is consistently low helmet use in those injured. Also, about 30% of people who go to hospital with e-scooter injuries have elevated blood alcohol levels. Crashes involving riders under the influence of alcohol are associated with more severe head and face injuries.
Once again alcohol plays its part in clogging up healthcare systems.
I fund people without helmets really weird. I go mountain biking a lot and also some downhill, so when you go to a park, everyone wears a helmet. Where i go some of the best riders of the country train there and they always wear their helmets, not only in the park, but also on the way there. But i still hear the argument that "i don't need a helmet, i'm a very good rider."
My sisters boyfriend takes it to the max, ge's a 43 year old guy with 2 children who ties his helmet to the handlebars when they go on a bike trip, because what if someone sees him and things he looks like a fag? That would be horrible.
Tourists and bar hoppers aren’t going to carry around a helmet
The number of dipshits i've seen flying along south and warrigal at 9 pm blind drunk with no lights and no helmets is amazing. Welp, at least this way they mostly just take themselves out.
Those Dutch hospitals must be packed full of cyclists with head injuries..
The stats I was quoting were from e-scooters, not cycles.
This 2010 article claims Dutch cyclists have incredibly low rates of head injuries.
This study from 2020 claims there are 13.5 million Dutch cyclists. So around 0.1% of the Dutch cyclist community will have a brain injury annually.
I shudder to think what the rates are for motor vehicles.
Cars and trucks are linked with injuries and hospital visits [edit: and deaths] of pedestrians, cyclists and e-scooters – but let's just blame the victim, shall we?
I mean. Some of them, yes. Have you watched Aus Dash Cam owners? Some of them have a bloody deathwish. Will grant you the majority seem to be doing the right thing, but certainly not all.
It's not a choice between blaming the scooter or the truck driver. It's a choice between building safe light-vehicle and pedestrian infrastructure or car-centric urban planning.
This wouldn't surprise me at all, if it almost entirely be rental scooters.
Here in Adelaide, they have these rental scooters lining the sidewalks on the nightlife strips - on the weekend!
This seems to me to be almost criminally negligent. What do they think young people are going to do with these things, while drunk? They are going to ride them, while drunk, and they are going to have accidents, of course. Because they're drunk.
I like the rental scooters, as they're a great way of getting round the city when you're in a hurry, but they should shut them down on the weekend evenings, FFS.
My buddy happened upon one that was fully operational while drunk. He didn't even pay, it was just on. He decided to go for a ride, then fuck it, why not try a wheelie? 1 broken foot later.
Sounds like a good case for banning cars from nightlife strips during peak activity hours.
I like the rental scooters, as they’re a great way of getting round the city when you’re in a hurry
Tbh, I'm not a fan. In a vacuum they might be cool, but here in Brisbane their introduction is what encourage the Council to remove their own sharebike scheme. CityCycle wasn't ebikes, but it also didn't cost over $20 for a fairly short return trip. For just $2, you could take as many rides you want, up to 30 minutes each ride, for a whole 24 hours. Even buying Neuron's 30-day passes costs 50% more than doing day-by-day on CityCycle did if you buy every single day, and over double if you take CityCycle every weekday only. And CityCycle also had cheaper options for longer-term plans.
Plus, being docked meant CityCycles weren't getting strewn all over footpaths, and meant you knew where you needed to go to get one. Slightly less convenient when dropping off was a more than worthwhile trade-off.
And worst of all, Council paid for CityCycle by getting advertising billboard company JCDecaux to run it, in exchange for allowing them to put ads on footpaths and buses. And now despite CityCycle being removed, they're still allowed to keep the ads.
They should shut down all cars too. Those things are designed to kill people. It's one of the core features of a car - murdering people legally.
There’s inherent risk with any mode of transportation.
I hate the tiny wheels on some of them. The ones with small bicycle tyres ride smoother, deal with rough terrain, and are less prone to over 90 degree steering reversals.
I'm never going to use a rental scooter, because whenever I would use one I don't have access to a helmet.
after bikes, do cars, and don't forget to include pollution.
..and the health effects of lowered physical activity, social isolation, stress of long commutes in traffic, inaccessibility of vital health and social services, ...and don't forget all the externalities to supply that 2 tons of vehicle, and fuel, and roads, etc.
Injuries requiring hospitalization per km traveled? That one is probably in car's favor
No, per hour of travel time.