The casualties from electric bike and motorized scooter road accidents.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to describe demographic and injury characteristics of hospitalized injured patients involved in e-bike and motorized scooter accidents at a national level in Israel divided by different road user groups: riders and pedestrians.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study based on data from the National Trauma Registry, between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2015. All hospitalized casualties due to the involvement of an e-bike or motorized scooter were included. The type of hospitalized road user was further categorized and described by different variables.

RESULTS

During the study period, the Israel Trauma Registry identified 795 hospitalized patients due to an e-bike or motorized scooter accident, with a dramatic 6-fold increase from 2013 to 2015. Although the majority of the injured patients were riders, 8% were pedestrians. Among the total casualties, 33% were children aged 0-14 years and among pedestrians 42% were children and 33% were seniors (ages 60+). Five persons died in hospital, 3 riders and 2 pedestrians.

CONCLUSIONS

E-bike and motorized scooter riders represent the majority of patients hospitalized due to related traffic incident. This finding questions the social and economic advantages of electric-powered 2-wheeled vehicles.