A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has found that nearly three out of five e-scooter rider injuries occurred on the sidewalk, and about a third of those were in places where sidewalk-riding is prohibited.
In an effort to determine how e-scooters are impacting road safety, researchers at IIHS interviewed more than 100 patients at George Washington University Hospital who were there for injuries while riding an e-scooter. One study looked at the severity of their injuries and how they were injured, while another compared the riders’ demographics, usage patterns, and injuries to those of 377 bicyclists previously interviewed.
Researchers found that e-scooter riders were twice as likely as bicyclists to get injured because of a pothole or crack in the pavement or other infrastructure elements like a signpost or curb. Only about one in five of the e-scooter riders was injured riding in a bike lane, multiuse lane, or other off-road location.
About a quarter of the e-scooter riders were community to work. Most, the study found, were running errands or riding for fun. Previous research has found that e-scooter riders prefer to ride in the bike lane, but IIHS also found that bike lanes were not typically available when riders were injured in the road or on the sidewalk. The research found that riding alongside pedestrians may not be a sustainable solution as more people turn to using e-scooters.
“We didn’t see many e-scooter crashes with motor vehicles, and that may be a result of riders sticking mostly to the sidewalk,” Jessica Cicchino, IIHS vice president for research and the lead author of the studies, said. “On the other hand, there are legitimate concerns that sidewalk riders could crash into pedestrians.”