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Turns Out E-Scooters Might Be The End of Society

Doc Reeves

By Doc Reeves
in Daily Texan

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Doc Reeves

Doc Reeves 6434

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Ive never been on an e-scooter. They seemed like a cool idea but before I could hop on a friend of the wife fell of and broke their wrist, then two days later a guy my wife has known since HS fell off and hit his head bad. It’s been about a year and it’s a full on ‘Regarding Henry’ situation. The guy is connected to a big-time family here in TX and they are planning to go scorched earth with a class-action after more data comes in.

In the past year both my wife and I have legit run over people on those things, in both instances because they drove across a cross walk when our light was green. One guy gave me a dirty look and kept going and the other a couple weeks ago actually had to pull the scooter out from the front of my suburban (fucking up the painted bumper) said “my bad!” then got back on and scooted off. 

Anyway, the data is coming in and it looks about how you’d think

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/05/head-injuries-broken-bones-plague-e-scooter-users-as-more-data-rolls-in/

If you're going to ride an e-scooter, you really ought to wear a helmet. That's the main take-home message from a study conducted by the Austin Public Health Department and the CDC, published this week. The data, gathered this fall in Austin, Texas, found that one in every 5,000 rides ended in injury, and 48 percent of those were head injuries. A total of 190 scooter riders were injured during the duration; just one was wearing a helmet.

Depending where you live, you will either be blissfully unaware of dockless electric scooters or completely sick of them. Like the dockless shared bicycles that often precede their arrival, they represent one of Silicon Valley's bright ideas to solve short urban journeys—so called micromobility— by showing up on city sidewalks overnight, en masse. That has certainly been the case here in Washington, DC, where it can be hard to walk more than a few feet in some areas without tripping over a scooter from Lime, Uber, or the rest. But in common with many of Silicon Valley's recent bright ideas, they aren't without risk.

In January, we reported on a study from Los Angeles that found a high rate of head injuries—and a low rate of helmet use—among injured scooter riders. That research looked at scooter-related injuries seen at a pair of UCLA emergency departments over the course of 12 months. By contrast, this new study examined a much shorter time period in 2018—September 5 to November 30—but cast a wider net, using both county emergency medical service reports and data from nine area hospitals.

Focusing on emergency departments (both studies) and EMS reports (this study) may mean that the more severely injured e-scooter riders are overrepresented in both studies, as minor cuts and scrapes are more likely to be seen by urgent care clinics and the like.

Revealing the true extent of e-scooter-related injuries would probably require an ICD code.160 confirmed and 32 probable e-scooter-related injuries were identified from these records. Of those injured, the overwhelming majority were the scooter rider; only one pedestrian and one cyclist were injured by an e-scooter. The researchers contacted the 190 injured scooter riders and were able to interview 125 of them for the study to gain a better insight into the specifics of their crashes. (The details of the remaining 65 injuries had to rely on medical records.) Just over half the injured riders (55 percent) were male, and just under half (48 percent) were aged 18 to 29.

Experience riding a scooter appears to be a factor; a third were injured on their first scooter ride, and another 30 percent had ridden more than once but fewer than 10 times previously.

This study actually discovered a higher rate of head injuries compared to the LA study—48 percent in total. But multiple injuries were common; 70 percent also suffered injuries to the upper limbs and 55 percent to the lower limbs. More than a third (35 percent) broke a bone, and 19 percent broke more than one, not counting finger and toe fractures.

Injuries resulted from a wide range of scenarios. Fifty-five percent were injured riding in the street, but 33 percent were injured riding on the sidewalk. Sixteen percent of injuries involved another vehicle, but only 10 percent were from actually colliding with another vehicle. An equal proportion of injuries (10 percent) involved a curb, and 7 percent were the result of hitting an inanimate object, like a lamppost. Injuries were more common on the weekend (39 percent) and between the hours of 6pm and 6am (39 percent). But only 29 percent reported consuming alcohol within the 12 hours leading up to their injury. Thirty-seven percent blamed excessive speed, and 19 percent believed that a scooter malfunction was to blame.

Perhaps the most surprising finding of all is that 38 percent reported they would ride an e-scooter again in the future.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54247

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6 minutes ago, Doc Reeves said:

Depending where you live, you will either be blissfully unaware of dockless electric scooters or completely sick of them. Like the dockless shared bicycles that often precede their arrival

Furk.  The bikes just showed up in San Marcos.

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suddenly shaggy

suddenly shaggy 929

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36 minutes ago, Doc Reeves said:

shit. 

Thanks. Sorry

You shouldn't be. This is a bigger topic than scooters in Austin alone and no one goes to the Food/Travel forum. Your thread was perfectly appropriate. This is a better place to discuss it and you used a more inclusive title. 

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deadshank

deadshank 24653

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I was in Austin for  the 1st time in over 5 years to see a dying friend.  I stayed downtown with another friend and we went out a few times.  He asked if I wanted to get scooters to go to a few places.  

I saw all of the idiots flying about on those things and then thought of what my scrumpled skull, busted wrists and shredded hide would look and feel like and quickly opted to walk everywhere.  Not more that 2 minutes after that decision, we had barely made it to  the corner and some dipshit flew across the intersection, hit the curb and smashed into a traffic light pole.

I rest my case.

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Chooky

Chooky 13315

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9 minutes ago, Telegraph_it said:

I fell off and hit my head. Guess I better sue. Pretty sure when you use the app you sign your life away. 

It had one of those sidecars on it.  You know those things.

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Rougarou

Rougarou 594

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When I’m in California I love them. Took a scooter to go get some food and instead of having to leave mission beach get in a car and drive etc., just hopped on a scooter, went .75 miles and was back in a hurry. Same for when I’m in San Jose and don’t want to Uber 6 blocks but also don’t want have 20 minutes to kill.

That said, I was in DC and they shut the scooters down and make them inoperable in high pedestrian areas which is awesome. The Lincoln memorial the lawn etc all that whole vicinity you might see one or two scooters that were left there but they can’t be used. That’s super helpful around those areas.

I almost ran over a guy on caesar Chavez because he was crossing when the light was green, but you can’t fix stupid no matter the medium or vehicle. Can’t blame scooters for that

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demos

demos 3004

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Serious question... are they supposed to be on the street or the sidewalk?  I see them on both and never sure which is legal. 

Doesn’t matter what the rules are; they don’t follow them. Even when they’re in the street you see them going down it in the wrong direction quite often.

 

They’re a got dam menace.

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NateHitch

NateHitch 1282

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There's too many people on this planet anyway, I'm all for letting people make decisions that will help with that issue.  The only thing that pisses me off is when dumbfucks take on the liability and then sue when reality smacks them upside the head.

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Your Mom

Your Mom 4806

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18 minutes ago, demos said:

Doesn’t matter what the rules are; they don’t follow them. Even when they’re in the street you see them going down it in the wrong direction quite often.

 

They’re a got dam menace.

I know but I need to know whether I'm more justified running them over in the street or clothes-lining them on the sidewalk.  

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demos

demos 3004

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I know but I need to know whether I'm more justified running them over in the street or clothes-lining them on the sidewalk.  

Oh I’m going to go ahead and say you’re justified either way.

I want a scooter stencil for my pickup.
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TornACL

TornACL 7698

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Remember how so many cities were soooo concerned about the safety of Uber and made Uber and Lyft jump through a million hoops to be certified? 

Why are cities just laying back and spreading their legs for these scooter and bike share companies? 

Guess there wasn't a bicyclist union to appease. 

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89709

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13 hours ago, Doc Reeves said:

a guy my wife has known since HS fell off and hit his head bad. It’s been about a year and it’s a full on ‘Regarding Henry’ situation. The guy is connected to a big-time family here in TX and they are planning to go scorched earth with a class-action after more data comes in

022.jpg

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NeverMarryAStripper

NeverMarryAStripper 21907

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Since I can perform a perfect shoulder roll in any situation when traveling at speed and losing balance, I ride scooters without fear of injuries. For those of you who are too fat or uncoordinated to perform a shoulder roll, I suggest leaving the scooters to us pros. 

Please post pic here of your shoulder roll after getting hit by a F-150 going 40 MPH.
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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

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11 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

My only problem with them is that they scratch the paint on my car after I run over them.

If you run over ones with people on them, their soft tissues and organs will protect against that scratching.  

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Guest

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33 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

luckily this plague hasn’t reached Houston yet.  Or not in the areas I drive.

can the scooters run under water?

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31495

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One of the more interesting uses/abuses of scooters I have seen is this.  Sometimes I ride my bike along the Trinity River levees in Dallas.  At some points, they have concrete paved walkways going down the levees and into the actual river bottom.  The parts in the bottom are frequently covered with a layer of mud.

Not only do ringmeat kids ride the ramps down the levee wall (steep enough to get going 30+ on a bike, easy), but then they ride em around on the mud covered paths and abandon them.

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ajax

ajax 2618

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It's part of the process. We have people who want to use scooters for transportation but really no infrastructure for them other than a handful of bike lanes. Problem -> solution, build the lanes for small electric vehicles, which leads to fewer cars on the road.

As for injuries, people really should wear protective gear.

Here's a video of a guy stupidly pushing his euc way beyond its limits, took a spill full on at 40 mph and all he got was a few scrapes. If you stay below 20 mph which plenty fast to get across town and wear a helmet you'll be fine.

 

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ajax

ajax 2618

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It's not going anywhere. People want to get where they want to go, fast. Uber and Lyft suck, and are clogging up our streets and their surge pricing is ridiculous. Even if the companies go out of business, the actual scooters/skateboards/etc are getting cheaper so people will just buy.

Enjoy the ride.

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