This September 2023 report by staff at the US Consumer Product Safety Commission compiles injury and fatality data involving micromobility devices, using data that was available at the time of publication. As the report notes multiple times, the aggregate data is fairly coarse and CPSC staff could only follow up on so many reports.

Nevertheless, the report offers some rather interesting insights on e-scooters, hoverboards, and ebikes, although at 42 pages, some might prefer to just read the Executive Summary – which is just 4 pages – and skim the figures and tables.

Some of my takeaways from the report:

  • ER visits for e-scooters have been at least double that of ebikes, although ebike data was below the reporting minimum so that data was estimated (page 10)
  • E-scooters and hoverboards ER visits by female/male are 35%/65% and 55%/45%, but ebikes are disproportionate at 24%/76% (page 12)
  • Two-thirds of hoverboard ER visits are for 5-14 year olds, the largest group of any age range for any micromobility device (page 13)
  • The vast, vast majority of ebike ER visits were incurred while riding on a public road or public property. No surprise there. (page 14)
  • July has the most ebike ER visits (14% of annual total), and January/February the least (3% each of annual total) (page 15)
  • The report has a whole section dedicated to e-scooters, starting at page 17
  • One-third (32%) of treated e-scooter injuries indicated the rider was carrying or holding onto something, with 61% indicated not holding, and 7% unspecified (page 21)
  • 13% of treated e-scooter injuries indicated the rider was wearing a helmet, with 51% unspecified (page 22)
  • Between 2017 and 2022, using available data, CPSC found 104 deaths related to ebikes. These deaths skew heavily male (84 deaths) and 25+ years old (87 deaths) (page 23-24)
  • 58 of 104 ebike deaths involved collisions with motor vehicles, the leading cause. The data does not specify whether the ebike or motor vehicles or both were in motion at time of collision (page 25)
  • 8 of 104 ebike deaths involved pedestrian collisions, composed of six pedestrians and two ebike riders
  • 2 of 104 ebike deaths involved fire by the ebike batteries
  • 18 of 104 ebike deaths involved collisions with terrain, roadway features, or wayside obstacles (page 25)
  • Of 59 ebike injury reports that CPSC staff followed up, 28 identified fire hazards, the leading cause. 24 of 59 involved non-brake mechanical issues, such as bicycle components failing or detaching (page 28)
  • litchralee@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    I’ve known at least two people who ate dirt while riding an e-scooter, with one of them hitting the ground chin first. A full-faced helmet probably would have helped, although I can’t say that with certainty, as a chin impact causes a torque on the neck and a helmet would elongate the torque arm, potentially exacerbating neck injuries even while softening the direct impact to the face. This person has since fully recovered and sworn off e-scooters entirely.

    Now, of course, if e-scooter riders all wore full helmets with HANS devices, the situation would be categorically improved.

    • Showroom7561@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      4 months ago

      I’ve known at least two people who ate dirt while riding an e-scooter, with one of them hitting the ground chin first. A full-faced helmet probably would have helped, although I can’t say that with certainty, as a chin impact causes a torque on the neck and a helmet would elongate the torque arm, potentially exacerbating neck injuries even while softening the direct impact to the face.

      It could depend on the speed. Higher risk of added injury if you’re going fast, but a simple rental e-scooter rider hitting a pothole or curb and going face down at 10km/h would benefit from the protection.

      Still, it’s the brain you want to keep intact, and not wearing any protection just seems insane.

      I strongly believe that larger wheel e-scooters could greatly minimize crashes and injuries, but 90% of it still rests on the rider’s skill and experience.

      • litchralee@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
        0·
        4 months ago

        I strongly believe that larger wheel e-scooters could greatly minimize crashes and injuries, but 90% of it still rests on the rider’s skill and experience.

        I agree. I personally would like to see “adult scooters” (eg Schwinn Shuffle) become more popular, since with electric assist, these would be more stable at speed. That said, they would make the most sense as part of a shared network, since storing an adult scooter is basically the same size as a bicycle.