Injuries related to electric scooter and bicycle use in a Washington, DC, emergency department
This report compares injuries sustained by riders involved in e-scooter crashes and bicycle crashes and the characteristics of those crashes. Analysis is based on interviews with 103 adult e-scooter riders, during 2019, and 377 adult bicycle riders, 2015-2017, seeking treatment for injuries at the George Washington University Hospital (Washington, DC) emergency department (ED). Overall, injury severity was similar for e-scooters and cyclists. Head injury rates were similar. While two thirds of cyclists were helmeted, injured e-scooter riders had a low rate of helmet use. This contributed to some serious head injury types being more prevalent among e-scooter riders than cyclists. E-scooter riders were injured more often per mile of travel than cyclists and presented to EDs more often than cyclists over the same time period. Bicycle crashes occurred more frequently on roads (50.9%) compared to e-scooters (23.5%) and bicycle crashes more often involved a moving vehicle (39.5%) compared to e-scooters (12.6%). E-scooter crashes more often occur on sidewalks where uneven pavement and other obstacles are more difficult for small scooter tires to deal with. Additional information examined includes demographics, trip characteristics, and injury treatment characteristics.
- Record URL:
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Corporate Authors:
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Arlington, VA United States -
Authors:
- Cicchino, Jessica B
- Kulie, Paige E
- McCarthy, Melissa L
- Publication Date: 2020-10
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 24p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Bicycle crashes; Crash characteristics; Crash injuries; Cyclists; Electric vehicles; Helmet use; Injury severity; Scooters; Traffic crashes
- Geographic Terms: Washington (District of Columbia)
- Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01761974
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Jan 6 2021 11:50AM