Children and Adolescents on E-Scooters: High Risk of Life-Threatening Accidents

"Children who ride e-scooters have a high risk of life-threatening traffic accidents," is the title of a scientific study by Viennese trauma surgeons (MedUni Vienna/AKH), which was published online last year and now in print in the journal "Pediatric Research" (doi: 10.1038/s41390-024-03667-6).

Teenage E-Scooter Riders at Increased Risk for Potentially Life-Threatening Injuries

The study included data from 633 children and teenagers (9.1 plus/minus five years), who were admitted with accident-related injuries between January 2019 and December 2022. Boys were significantly overrepresented, accounting for 63.5 percent. 80.1 percent (age eight years plus/minus 4.1 years) had used simple scooters. 19.9 percent (14.2 plus/minus 4.1 years) had been riding e-scooters.

"In comparison, teenage e-scooter riders were significantly more often involved in traffic accidents (non-electric scooters: 16 out of 507 injured; e-scooters: 21 out of 126 accident victims) and more frequently suffered severe head injuries (non-electric scooters: eight out of 134 injured; e-scooters seven out of 37) than patients who rode scooters without propulsion," the trauma surgeons noted in their analysis.

The conclusion of the study's authors: "Teenage e-scooter riders have a higher risk of being involved in potentially life-threatening traffic accidents than riders of non-electric scooters. E-scooter riders have a higher risk of suffering severe head injuries that require surgical intervention than riders of simple scooters. The data urgently suggest the implementation of prevention strategies, particularly educating teenagers and parents as well as wearing protective gear."

E-Scooter Study with Call to Legislators

Legislation and law enforcement could also help prevent such injuries and potentially life-threatening traffic accidents involving children and adolescents riding e-scooters, according to the scientists.

Very similar data was reported a few days ago by the German medical publication "ZM Online". It reported on a study by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), in which the data from the accident register of the German Society for Trauma Surgery was analyzed.

Data on Seriously Injured from E-Scooter Accidents

Since 2020, e-scooter accidents with serious injuries have been recorded in the TraumaRegister of the German Society for Trauma Surgery. This information has now been analyzed by the Traffic Safety Research Group at the TUM Clinic. In their study, the team examined the data of 538 people who were seriously injured in e-scooter accidents up to 2023 and compared basic data on the course of the accident with information from injured cyclists and other road users, according to the online publication.

This study also highlighted the risks of e-scooters. Compared to cyclists, the victims of e-scooter accidents were more often male (78.4 percent versus 72.3 percent), younger (44.3 versus 54.5 years), and more frequently under the influence of alcohol (34.9 percent versus 15.6 percent).

More than half of the accidents (54 percent) occurred at night, and 83 percent of e-scooter accident victims suffered serious injuries to the head or face, it was reported. The most common injuries were brain hemorrhages (20.1 percent), skull base fractures (16.7 percent), and multiple rib fractures (16.5 percent). The mortality rate was still 4.8 percent.

(APA/Red.)

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