The introduction of publicly shared electric scooters ("e-scooters") in Denver, Colorado has resulted in a steady increase in injuries and hospital admissions, according to research led by Alexander Lauder, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Denver Health Medical Center. The are presented in . "International reports corroborate similar trends with increased scooter use and rates of associated injury," Dr.
Lauder's team writes. "This may result from amplified availability of e-scooter use without thorough or comprehensive legislative regulation." Most injuries related to e-scooters occur late at night and on the weekends In July 2018, Denver launched a Dockless Mobility Program, which provides for public use.
A study at Denver Health Medical Center, published in 2022 in the , determined that in the first 18 months after the introduction of publicly shared scooters, 197 patients came to Denver Health with associated injuries, compared with 23 patients who came there with e-scooter injuries between August 1, 2016 and February 1, 2018. The need for increased from 11% of to 62%. In the new study in , the same research team looked back to see how many people of any age came to Denver Health with e-scooter injuries between January 1, 2020, and November 1, 2023.
They identified 2,424 patients: 273 injured in 2020, 736 in 2021, 758 in 2022, and 657 in 2023 (only 10 months studied). The average number of patients injured each year was 131 in the older study and 619 in the new study, about a .