Abstract
Objective
This study determined the vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT)-based injury rate for stand-up,
dockless electric rental scooters (e-scooters), and compare it with the VMT-based
injury rate for motor vehicle travel.
Methods
In this secondary analysis of existing data, the e-scooter injury rate was calculated
based on e-scooter injuries presenting to an emergency department or the emergency
medical services system in Austin, TX between September and November 2018. Injuries
were identified by Austin Public Health through a targeted e-scooter epidemiological
injury investigation; e-scooter VMT data were reported by e-scooter vendors as a condition
of their city licensing. Comparative injury rates for motor vehicle travel in Texas,
and specifically in Travis County were calculated using annual motor vehicle crash
(MVC) injury and VMT data reported by the Texas Department of Transportation.
Results
There were 160 confirmed e-scooter injuries identified by the e-scooter injury investigation,
with 891,121 reported miles of e-scooter travel during the study period. This produces
an injury rate estimate of 180 injuries/million VMT (MVMT). The injury rates for motor
vehicle travel for Texas and for Travis County were 0.9 injuries/MVMT and 1.0 injuries/MVMT,
respectively.
Conclusion
The observed VMT-based e-scooter injury rate was approximately 175 to 200 times higher
than statewide or county specific injury rates for motor vehicle travel. These findings
raise concerns about the potential higher injury rate associated with e-scooters,
and highlight the need for further injury surveillance, research and prevention activities
addressing this emerging transportation technology.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
One-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to The American Journal of Emergency MedicineAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The integration of electric scooters: useful technology or public health problem?.Am J Public Health. 2019; 109: 555-556
- Injuries associated with standing electric scooter use.JAMA Netw Open. 2019; 2: e187381https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.7381
- Emergency department visits for electric scooter-related injuries after introduction of an urban rental program.Am J Emerg Med. 2019; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2019.05.003
- Regional healthcare costs and burden of injury associated with electric scooters.Injury. 2019; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.injury.2019.10.026
- The characteristics of dockless electric rental scooter-related injuries in a large U.S. city.Traff Inj Prev. 2020; 21: 476-481
- New peril on our roads: a retrospective study of electric scooter-related injuries.Singap Med J. 2019; https://doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2019083
- Impact of e-scooter injuries on emergency department imaging.J Med Imag Radiat On. 2019; https://doi.org/10.1111/1754-9485.12889
- Early experience with electric scooter injuries requiring neurosurgical evaluation in District of Columbia: a case series.World Neurosurg. 2019; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2019.08.237
- Electric scooter injuries at Auckland City Hospital.NZ Med J. 2019; 132: 62-72
- Let’s count the ways e-scooters could save the city.WIRED. December 7, 2018; (Available from:)
- E-scooter findings report.Portland Bureau of Transportation, Portland, OR2018 (Available from:)
- Dockless electric scooter-related injuries study. Austin Public Health, Austin, TX2019 (Available from:)
- Annual estimates of the resident population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2018 (NST-EST2018–01).(Available from:)
- Shared micromobility transportation data and performance hub. City of Austin Transportation Department, Austin, TX2019 (Available from:)
- Texas motor vehicle crash statistics – 2018. Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, TX2019 (Available from:)
- Roadway inventory annual reports – 2018. Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, TX2018 (Available from:)
- Motor vehicle safety: current concepts and challenges for emergency physicians.Ann Emerg Med. 1999; 34: 384-393
- Achievements in public health, 1900-1999 motor-vehicle safety: a 20th century public health achievement.MMWR. 1999; 48: 369-374
- Table 2: Persons killed or injured and fatality and injury rates per population, licensed drivers, registered vehicles, and vehicle miles traveled, 1966-2017.in: National safety facts annual report tables: trends (general). 2019 (Available from:) (Accessed December 3, 2019)
- Historical fatality trends.(Available at:) (Accessed November 16, 2019)
- Traffic safety facts 2017.U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, DC2019
- Motor vehicle crash injury rates by mode of travel, United States: using exposure-based methods to quantify differences.Am J Epidemiol. 2007; 166: 212-218
- Analysis of motorcycle crashes in Texas, 2010–2017.College Station, TX, Texas A&M Transport Institute2018
- Injuries in a 1-day recreational cycling tour: bike New York.Ann Emerg Med. 1999; 33: 56-61
- Injury and illness among athletes during a multi-day elite cycling road race.Phys Sportsmed. 2015; 43: 348-354
- Injuries and illnesses occurring on a recreational bicycle tour: the great Ohio bicycle adventure.Wild Environ Med. 2017; 28: 299-306
Article Info
Publication History
Published online: October 27, 2020
Accepted:
October 23,
2020
Received in revised form:
October 20,
2020
Received:
September 16,
2020
Footnotes
☆Presented (virtually) at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Denver, CO, May 2020.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
