FRIDAY, Sept. 27, 2024 (HealthDay News) — People who rely on electric bikes and motorized scooters to get around know they can get hurt, but they may be surprised by how likely it really is.

Injury rates to the trendy transportation devices skyrocketed between 2019 and 2022, Columbia University researchers report. E-bike injuries increased by 293%; those involving motorized scooters increased by 88%.

“Our findings underscore the urgent need to improve the monitoring of micromobility injuries and to identify strategies for cities to improve user safety so that micromobility can be a safe, sustainable, equitable and healthy alternative for transportation,” says the first study author. Kathryn Burford. She is a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

Micromobility encompasses any small, low-speed, human- or electric-powered transportation device. And these devices are growing in popularity: between 2019 and 2022, sales of e-bikes surpassed sales of electric cars and trucks – an increase of a whopping 269%.

Drawing on a nationwide injury surveillance system, Burford’s team looked at patterns of more than 1.9 million injuries associated with e-bikes, bicycleshoverboards and motorized scooters. The sample included data from 96 US hospitals.

Of the 48.8 million injuries that resulted in an emergency room visit between 2019 and 2022, 1.9 million involved micromobility devices. Bicycles were No. 1, accounting for 33.2 of every 1,000 acute injuries. Motorized scooters were No. 2, with 3.4 of every 1,000 ER injuries, followed by 1.8 for hoverboards and 1.2 for e-bikes.

More than 3 out of 4 hoverboard injuries involved patients under the age of 18. This can be compared with 1.5% of injuries to electric bicycles and 16% of injuries to motorcycles.

In contrast, 57% of patients were injured while using motorized scooters, 49% of those with e-bike injuries, and 31% of bicycle injuries were aged 18 to 44. Males had higher rates of scooter and bicycle injuries than females. Bicycle and e-bike-related injuries were most common among seniors.

Alcohol and helmet use were factors in some cases. Alcohol was more often involved in motorcycle and e-bike injuries. Injured bicycle and e-bike users were more likely to use helmets than their counterparts on hoverboards or motorized scooters. Helmet use was lowest among patients injured with hoverboards, and they were more likely to suffer concussions.

Hoverboard-related injuries decreased during the study period, especially among children. Researchers attributed that, at least in part, to a 2018 safety warning from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Conversely, the significant increase in electric micromobility injuries we are experiencing may be due to the lack of access, education, and regulation of protective equipment because shared micromobility systems, such as NYC’s City Bike program, are not required to provide helmets to users.” said senior study author Andrew Rundleprofessor of epidemiology at Columbia.

Burford suggested public officials may need to step in.

“Legislation is lacking on where micromobility devices can be driven,” she explained, “and legislation governing driving these devices while under the influence of alcohol or other recreational drugs is inconsistent and historically difficult to pass.”

Researchers noted that improving the availability of protected bike lanes near high-use locations such as urban areas could make streets safer for micromobility users. They plan to investigate features that can help prevent the risk of injury.

The results were recently published in American Journal of Public Health.

More information

Johns Hopkins Medicine has safety tips for cyclists, skateboarders and scooter users.

SOURCE: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, press release, September 24, 2024