Three fifths e-scooter riders needed treatment for major trauma injuries after being involved in an accident.
Image via PixabayEuropean bodies have called for restrictions on speed limits and age limits for e- scooter users.
New UK research has found just 7 percent of e-scooter riders involved in an accident were wearing helmets, compared to nearly half of cyclists.
Meanwhile, a quarter are more likely to be drunk or high while on an e-scooter, which is only 7 percent among cyclists.
Dr Frank Lyons, consultant at the Mater Hospital, has said they're seeing more e-scooter users arrive in hospital with serious injuries.
The European Transport Safety Council has recommended speed limits of 20km per hour, and a minimum age limit of 16 for e- scooter riders.
The ETSC – whose members include the Road Safety Authority in Ireland – has also proposed a ban on the use of e-scooters on footpaths as well as users carrying passengers.
Dr Suzanne Meade from Transport Infrastructure Ireland's Road Safety Section says that report should be welcomed:
'The last 5 years have seen huge growth in this type of transport across Europe, Germany provided an awful lot of Evidence'
The same report found both riders and pedestrians are more likely to suffer serious injuries in a collision over 20 km per hour.
In Ireland, a new Road Traffic and Roads Bill which will allow for the regulation of the use of e-scooters is expected to be passed by the Oireachtas by the end of March.
