After road accidents, people using electric scooters are twice as likely to suffer from head injuries.
- From 2019 to 2020, 229 adults riding electric scooters were seriously injured.
- Serious accidents involving electric scooters occurred more often in the evening and on weekends.
- In a third of cases, they occurred in a context of high blood alcohol levels.
How serious are the injuries associated with electric scooters compared to motorcycles or bicycles? This is the question asked by doctors and researchers from the APHP, Sorbonne University and Inserm. To answer this, they carried out a study, the results of which were published in the journal JAMA Network Open. As part of the work, they analyzed the severity of injuries following road accidents involving electric scooters.
What are the most serious accidents occurring on two wheels?
For the purposes of the research, the scientists examined data from the National Major Trauma Registry dating from January 1, 2019 to December 20, 2022. “All patients admitted to a major trauma center following a traffic accident involving an electric scooter, bicycle or motorcycle were included”, they specified. In total, the study involved 5,233 patients whose median age was estimated at 33 years.
The main criterion for evaluating the injuries was the severity of the injury defined by the Injury Severity Score (ISS). The secondary outcomes included the number of patients per year, certain epidemiological factors, such as the moment of occurrence of the accident, the wearing of a helmet or the blood alcohol level, the clinical severity, the presence of a head trauma and the resources needed for treatment or the results of examinations.
Electric scooters: injuries as severe as those of motorcycle drivers
According to the results, in four years, the number of patients admitted following a public road accident involving the use of an electric scooter has multiplied by 2.8, or 229 patients seriously injured over this period. . Electric scooter riders had an Injury Severity Score greater than 16, i.e. severe trauma, in 45.5% of cases. Thus, the authors estimated that the injuries that occurred after an accident involving electric scooters were as serious as those that appeared following a bicycle or motorcycle accident.
Another finding: people riding electric scooters were twice as likely to have head injuries, which were more serious than those of motorcyclists, possibly related to the fact that less than 25% of scooter users were wearing a helmet at the time. of the accident, according to the doctors. The study also showed that serious accidents involving electric scooters occurred more often in the evening and on weekends. “In addition, they occurred in a context of alcohol intake above the legal threshold (>0.5g/L) in a third of cases.”
About 9% of seriously injured electric scooter riders have died
In two-thirds of cases, patients who used an electric scooter admitted to hospital after the accident required an operation within the first 24 hours. Interventions included mainly reconstructive surgery for limb fractures but also neurosurgery. Hospitalization was often long, on average 15 days. “The mortality associated with road accidents involving electric scooters was 9.2%, compared to 10% for bicycles and 5.2% for motorcycles”, can we read in the works.
