Drugs and alcohol e-scooter accidents soar
A dramatic increase in serious injuries due to drug or alcohol affected e-scooter riders is alarming emergency specialists at The Alfred.
A recent study by Alfred Health and Monash University emergency physician Professor Biswadev Mitra and colleagues revealed that 272 patients were admitted to hospital with injuries related to e-scooters between January 2017 and May 2022.
“These injuries have risen in number each year and continue to do so,” Prof Mitra said.
In 2021, Alfred Health had 93 people present with injuries following a crash involving an e-scooter, which had tripled from 2020. In just the first five months of 2022, there were 132 presentations.
“Almost a quarter of all those admitted had alcohol or drug exposure, which is an incredibly high number and an issue that needs to be urgently addressed.
“These are motorised vehicles and need to be treated with the same respect and safety measures we have for all other motor vehicles.”
Most alcohol or drug-related trauma related to e-scooters occurred at night, and was among males.
“These were nearly always people who were riding these scooters without a helmet, which resulted in higher injury severity, and often required surgical intervention and a longer hospital length of stay.
“What people don’t realise is the normal protection that a car offers with seatbelts and airbags is not available on motorbikes or e-bikes/scooters,”
“So, when you come off at 20 to 30 kilometres per hour without any protection you fall and can have devastating, life-changing injuries.”
“These include severely damaged and broken bones, spinal damage, trauma to vital organs and brain damage.”
