Chicago should be a driving force in collecting e-scooter accident data

When a City Council committee in April proposed a measure to lift the ban on electric scooter rides between midnight and 5 a.m., a Chicago Department of Transportation official pointed to an analysis that showed the number of e-scooter-related accidents in has declined over the last two years.

About 28 out of 100,000 trips resulted in injuries and an emergency room visit during the pilot program phase between 2019 and 2020, Deputy Transportation Commissioner Sean Wiedel told the Licensing and Consumer Protection Committee.

That number has dropped to 14 injuries per 100,000 trips, Wiedel said in April.

However, six months later, Sun-Times reporter Mary Norkol was told that updated numbers were not available “because CDOT does not have specific data on crashes or injuries related to shared scooters.”

However, studying the safety risks of e-scooters should not be limited to pilot programs, especially when statistics show that the number of two-wheelers on city streets is increasing as more residents opt for the low-cost, low-emission short-distance travel. If CDOT wants to improve e-scooter safety as it promises, that long-term plan should include monitoring deaths, injuries and likely emergency room visits.

Lyft, which operates Divvy rental scooters, and Lime and Spin, the only companies operating rentals in Chicago outside of downtown, should also be required to report any numbers to the city.

This collected data can help shape policy and determine whether further education campaigns are needed for e-scooter riders, as well as motorists, cyclists and pedestrians who use city streets.

Anecdotally, experts including Advocate Illinois Masonic emergency medicine chair Norkol said more people operating e-scooters are getting injured.

The victims themselves can also attest to this reality. Bridgeport resident Marie-Claire Ching, who owns a Segway e-scooter, was hit by a car not once, but twice in a month last year.

The few national studies confirm their experiences.

E-scooter injuries nationwide increased 45% each year between 2017 and 2022, according to a University of California San Francisco study released over the summer.

The research, which also focused on electric bikes, found that e-riders were older – early to late 30s – and tended to avoid helmets. E-scooter riders were more likely to suffer internal injuries after an accident than traditional scooter riders.

“As micromobility vehicles become more integrated into our daily lives, it is critical to understand and address the safety challenges they pose,” said Dr. Benjamin N. Breyer, UCSF professor and lead author of the study.

It’s hard to spin it any other way.

Chicago doesn’t have to go down the path that Paris took in 2023, when it banned e-scooter rentals after they were deemed too dangerous despite tighter restrictions. But the city cannot afford to ignore the accident developments.

It doesn’t hurt to remind e-scooter riders that they should wear helmets, avoid the sidewalk and limit their speed to 15 mph. Like cyclists, they should stay on cycle paths and stay on the right side of the road when they are away.

Drivers and cyclists should also adhere to traffic rules. And pedestrians crossing the street should put their phones away and turn down the volume on their earbuds or headphones. Vigilance and awareness are essential for everyone’s safety.

As the transportation landscape continues to evolve, compiling data on new modes of transportation should not be an afterthought.

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