Kansas City ERs join other U.S. hospitals seeing more scooter-related injuries after the arrival of e-scooters. Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health saw a 161 percent increase in ER visits involving scooters this year after comparing its statistics with the same three-month period of 2017.
Aaron Kaus, MD, an emergency room physician at Kansas City, Mo.-based Saint Luke’s Hospital, said injuries most often involve the face and head, and the speed of e-scooters also contributes to patients’ injuries.
“I’ve heard from ones who, more or less, lose control of the scooters when they hit either a pothole or a crack, or transition from the sidewalk to the street,” Dr. Kaus told KBIA.
In a statement to KBIA, a spokesperson for scooter company Bird said the company restricts the maximum speed of its vehicles and requires riders to upload a driver’s license confirming they are 18 or older. Every Bird scooter also has safety instructions.
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