Emergency Injuries Soar as Scooters Take Over Sidewalks

July 18, 2018

  • July 18, 2018 at 6:40 pm
    Doug says:
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    This articles title is, “Emergency Injuries Soar as Scooters Take Over Sidewalks.”

    And I was perplexed by something. On the one hand the article title says injuries have “soared”, yet on the other hand the single source quoted in the article notes that “…the Cedars-Sinai Emergency Department has not tallied the exact number of scooter-related injuries.” Which of course presents the obvious question, “How do you then know scooter injuries have ‘soared’”?

    This is addressed by the same source stating that he has “…noted a ‘definite increase’ in patients seeking treatment for head, wrist, elbow and hip injuries related to scooter use.” However, if you had one patient with such injuries in the prior month, and three patients with such injuries in the current month, that would be a “definite increase”. 300%, to be exact. But it wouldn’t validate the narrative that scooter injuries – in general, and everywhere – have “soared”.

    My stake? I’ve been riding these electric scooters for 15 years. (Yes, despite the current hoopla, these devices are hardly new. The only thing new is the wider adoption.) And in 15 years I’ve never once fallen, injured myself, or injured another. Because the reality is that these scooters aren’t any more difficult or dangerous to ride than a bicycle. And in fact, with a 15mph speed limit on these scooters, most bicycles actually travel faster than these scooters. Yet you aren’t seeing alarmist articles about the dangers of bicycles because, well, because people are now used to them.

    Scooters aren’t the problem here. PEOPLE are the problem. As usual. It should defy all statistical probability that I’ve been riding an electric scooter for 15 years without so much as a scratch. Except it doesn’t because, unlike many people, I’m not an idiot. To the extent injuries have increased (you’ve presented no data whatsoever showing injuries have “soared”, nor the reasons thereof), I’d suggest you look more towards people’s behavior rather than a device that is, itself, rather harmless & benign.

    Dr. Torbati suggested that these electric scooters are “…not any safer than riding a moped.” Which leads me to believe that the good doctor has never actually ridden either an electric scooter nor a moped. One of those devices goes 15mph mostly in bike lanes; the other goes 35mph while competing with cars on the open road. I’d beg the doctor to experience both of those scenarios, and then tell me if he still thinks riding an electric scooter is “…not any safer than riding a moped.”



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