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 findings are presented in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research ® (CORR ® ), a publication of The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons ® . The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
"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 e-scooters for public use. A study at Denver Health Medical Center, published in 2022 in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, determined that in the first 18 months after 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 hospital admissions increased from 11% of injured patients to 62%.
In the new study in CORR ® , the same research team looked back to see how many people of any age came to Denver .