New York City-based NYU Langone Health researchers found that nearly 7% of trauma admissions are associated with pedal-powered and electronic bikes or scooters.
The study, published April 15 in Neurosurgery, analyzed 914 patients treated over five years at a New York City-based Bellevue Hospital Center. Researchers found that the share of trauma cases involving an electric mobility device grew from under 10% in 2018 to more than half in 2023.
Here are four findings:
1. Among patients, fewer than one-third wore helmets, which was linked to higher rates of brain and facial injury. About 1 in 5 patients tested positive for alcohol, and the most common cause of injury was a collision with a vehicle.
2. Among patients, 69 were pedestrians struck by an electric micro-mobility device and suffered brain injuries at nearly double the rate as riders.
3. Injuries were most common at 6-8 p.m.
4. One-third of patients suffered traumatic brain injuries, more than two-thirds of patients required hospital admission and roughly 30% needed intensive care.
“Our study shows that micromobility injuries are producing serious brain and spinal trauma that demands neurosurgical care at a scale we haven’t seen before,” corresponding author Hannah Weiss, MD, a resident in the department of neurosurgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, said in an April 15 news release shared with Becker’s.
“In a busy urban setting, we are seeing more and more of these injuries firsthand,” she added. “The data point to actionable solutions — helmet use, safer bike lane design and enforcement — that could prevent many of these injuries and better protect both riders and pedestrians, who in our study often sustained even more severe brain injuries than riders themselves.”
