The last few years has seen a huge rise in popularity of electric bicycles and scooters. Many major cities in the U.S. now have a rideshare program for e-bikes, allowing people to catch a ride on a whim, and sales of these devices increased 40% in 2022 alone. However, that trend has led to a spike in injuries.
New research published in JAMA Network Open studied medical database information from 86,623 people from 2017 to 2022 and found that electric bicycle injuries increased by nearly 100% and electric scooter injuries increased by more than 45% annually.
“Injured electric vehicle users were older and less commonly helmeted than those injured from conventional vehicles,” the researchers wrote in the study. They also noted that the findings “suggest that safer riding infrastructure and rider practices are important to curtail the rise of micromobility injuries.” (“Micromobility” refers to e-bikes and scooters.)
Doctors aren’t surprised by the findings and say these numbers are likely an undercount. “I think the real numbers are much worse,” Dr. Ali Jamehdor, medical director of the Weingart Foundation Emergency Department at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., tells Yahoo Life.
Dr. Michael Levine, an emergency medicine physician at UCLA Health, agrees. “I definitely see these injuries a lot — on a daily basis,” he tells Yahoo Life. “Usually people are scooting around, hit a bump and fall, or a car stops in front of them and they don’t see it.”
Why is wearing a helmet on an electric bike so important?
Doctors and public health experts have recommended wearing a helmet when riding non-electric bikes for years, and emergency room physicians who treat these injuries stress that it’s even more important on an electric bike. “These are very similar to a motorcycle,” Jamehdor says. “Most people would not think of getting on a motorcycle without a helmet.”
The big problem with these bikes is their power, Dr. Erin Muckey, associate professor of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, tells Yahoo Life. “Electric bikes and scooters can accelerate more quickly, travel at higher speeds and are heavier than conventional bikes and scooters, which increase the risk of injury during an accident,” she says. Most people driving them may not be as well-versed in how to operate the machines, particularly if they rent them, Jamehdor says.
Many of these injured riders are also older and physically inactive, and some of the accidents may involve drugs and alcohol, Dr. Nicholas Kman, an emergency medicine physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life. For older adults who are on medications like blood thinners, their injuries could be even worse, he says.
What kind of injuries can happen?
“We see many head and facial — dental — injuries as these patients hit a curb, sidewalk or other hard surface,” Kman says. “Further, many of these happen in a crowded urban setting where a car may strike an e-bike or scooter.”
Levine says he’s seen a range of injuries, from cuts and lacerations to broken bones. “Occasionally we’ll see really severe head injuries from falling off these bikes and scooters,” he says.
The combination of speed and a potential fall risk is scary, Jamehdor says. “Trauma to the head can cause life-altering or life-ending injuries,” he says. “It can take a split second for that fall to occur.”
Doctors say that rental e-bikes and scooters are an issue
Most people who rent these bikes don’t have a helmet already on them — and they’re not available for users when they rent the bike, Levine points out. “These people don’t necessarily walk around with a helmet all day,” he says. “Because the helmets are not offered, people think these bikes are safe.”
Jamehdor points out that nearly all of the companies that make these bikes say that riders should use a helmet, “but the bikes are positioned all over the place, including touristy areas near the beach.”
“I don’t go to the beach with my helmet,” he continues. “People just think last-minute, ‘Let me jump on this thing,’ and by then it’s too late.”
Kman says there’s value in considering helmet rentals as part of electric bike and scooter rentals, making it easier for people to choose to be protected in the moment. Jamehdor agrees. “If these companies really want to take safety seriously, they should make people show proof that they’re putting on a helmet before being able to activate those machines,” he says. “There needs to be more security built into these things.”
Overall, doctors stress the importance of using a bike helmet, including on electric bikes and scooters. “A helmet could save your life,” Kman says. “It could prevent a serious facial, neck or neurologic injury that could alter the rest of your life. Remember that these vehicles are common in urban settings where the road is being shared with much bigger vehicles.”
Along with wearing a helmet, Levine says it’s important to use “street sense” around cars. “Be aware, too, that the car is going to sustain much less injury than the biker,” he adds.
