The growing popularity of electronic sumoters comes with a surge in injuries.
Vehicle and scooter crash at Jensen Beach. The woman flew to the hospital
A woman was seriously injured and flew to the hospital after a scooter and vehicle crashed in Jensen Beach on July 24, 2025.
SAN FRANCISCO – A 77-year-old man was killed after being attacked by an electric scooter across the streets of downtown San Francisco in July.
However, other types of e-scooter accidents that lead to emergency room travel are becoming too frequent across the country.
The growing popularity of electric scooters – Commuters can easily access to reach their final destinations and tourists, and enjoying sightseeing usually causes riders, and sometimes others to injure.
A 2023 report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed that from 2017 (when the device was introduced at a large scale) until 2022, the US recorded 360,800 ER visits related to e-bikes, e-suckers and hoverboards, all known as micromobility vehicles.
Of these visits, 169,300 were linked to scooters, or 47%. By comparison, ER travel caused by E-bike accidents has reached up to 53,200 or less than 15%.
Similar to concerns, of the 233 micromobility-related deaths, the CPSCs that were registered through that six-year stretch were usually from the e-Scooter incident as a result of car collisions and control issues.
Scooters are mistakenly considered “very low risk”
After penetration in the early parts of the Covid pandemic, ER-worthy injuries (mostly electric varieties) related to electric scooters steadily rose from under 30,000 in 2020 last year to 118,485, almost twice in 2023 total (64,329).
“People see scooters as very, very low risk for some reason, but they see broken wrists, head injuries, neck injuries, neck injuries, all of which are very common,” said Dr. Eric Cioepeña, Associate Professor of Medical Science at Northwell Global Health Center in Long Island, New York.
Cioe-Peña has noticed a surge in injuries over the past five years, consistent with an increase in e-Scooter ridership. Dockless scooter riderships in the US were up to 65 million in 2023, the latest year when nonprofits have statistics, according to data from the National City Transportation Association.
As of 2024, there were 130 American cities with e-scooter sharing programs, says the Bureau of Transport Statistics. A recent report also predicts that the market for e-bikes and e-souters in North America will grow from around $500 million last year to more than $3 billion by 2033.
Ignore traffic rules and ignore protections
All these vehicles inevitably led to more injuries, with Cioe-Peña ignoring road rules such as blowing past stop signs and expressing concerns about the number and riders, including failing to wear protective gear, especially helmets.
He said the worst e-scooter injury he saw in the ER involved a Staten Island helmetless rider whose front wheels hit an irregular spot on the road (probably a storm drain slot) and was catapulted over the handlebars. Rider landed on concrete, maintaining a serious concussion and a broken ankle and wrist.
“The risk for pedestrians is more sensational,” Cioe-Peña said.
Research into helmet use among e-scoater riders is rare, but generally shows a low rate of 2%.
Nacto spokesman Alex Engel said most of the e-Scooter injuries are maintained by riders who are vulnerable to potholes and small objects on the road that cause accidents.
“In e-scooters, the quality of the pavement tends to be much more important than a bike or e-bike because the center of gravity is on you, and the wheels are much smaller and generally there is much less shock (absorption),” Engel said.
You need to ride in a safer place
Still, he pointed out that the car is far the biggest danger for riders.
“The most important thing a city can do is provide a safe place for people to ride,” Engel said. “It gives people space already on board and encourages more ridership. There’s safety in the numbers.”
Few cities have bike lanes on every street, and it’s not uncommon to see e-scooters on sidewalks that are generally against the law. Civic leaders tend to appreciate the e-scooters’ eco-friendly convenience, but several cities and two states in Pennsylvania and Delaware have effectively banned them from public roads.
There is a huge variation in state and local government regulations regarding e-scooters, from minimum age requirements to whether or not they are allowed to ride on the sidewalk, causing confusion among practitioners.
According to a detailed guide to Scooter Maker Unagi’s webpage, over 30 states have set speed limits between 15 mph and 20 mph, but allow six riders at speeds of at least 25 mph.
Luffy enforcement
Joseph Schauffer, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University, who specializes in transportation issues, said the regulations are not publicly known and rarely in place.
“My feeling is, teenagers on scooters are they’re not obligated to train,” Scofer said. “If there is, there’s no way to do that.”
He remembers seeing him ride on a rental e-scoater around Washington, DC several years ago, riding on his shoulder with a probably 2 or 3 year old. It reminded me of the need for better public education on these mechanisms, not to mention common sense.
Scopher said he sees value with efficient communication like e-scooter. He also wonders about the risks involved, especially for young riders and tourists who may not be familiar with the town’s layout or traffic patterns.
“You have a very inexpensive path to access electric transport, and it’s also very appealing to young people who are not licensed drivers, and people with limited incomes,” he said. “So, how do you make this work?”
“Location of the Transport Ecosystem”
Dr. Ben Breyer, a professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, said that’s where the city’s involvement comes.
Most recently, he collaborated on a widely cited UCSF study published last summer.
Nevertheless, Blayer prefers the possibilities of these vehicles.
“This kind of micromobility options have locations in the transport ecosystem,” he said. “They help keep cars away from the road, reduce crowds and help people make that last miles on their commute. I think we need more infrastructure to support our riders.
