There are calls in Victoria for an urgent review of e-scooter safety. Frustrated doctors say the current playing field places an unacceptable burden on the state's health system. A new study has found treating badly injured e-scooter users, who are usually riding drunk, or without a helmet cost one hospital nearly two million dollars last year.
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00:00 They've become an everyday sight, but doctors say the booming e-scooter industry has a hidden
00:07 underbelly with 250 injured riders visiting the Royal Melbourne Emergency Department in
00:13 the e-scooter trials first year alone.
00:16 That's one hospital in one city in Australia.
00:20 Their injuries, many of them life changing, make for squeamish reading.
00:24 More than 100 riders broke, cut or sprained their arms as they tried to break their falls.
00:29 The number of head injuries, 128, gave doctors cause for even greater concern.
00:35 On the more gruesome end, smashed teeth and brain bleeds, one rider died from a traumatic
00:40 brain injury.
00:42 Frustrated doctors say the costly imposition on an overburdened health system could be
00:47 avoidable.
00:48 We've got very highly occupied hospitals, so any increase is really too much at the
00:53 moment.
00:54 Only one in three riders reported wearing a helmet.
00:57 The same proportion admitted to drinking alcohol, but the true rate could have been higher.
01:02 A bulk of our injuries are happening on Friday and Saturday nights.
01:05 When people walk out of a nightclub or out of a bar and there's an e-scooter in front
01:09 of them and they make a split second decision that can turn out to change their lives.
01:14 The study did not distinguish between hired scooters and privately owned ones, but Melbourne's
01:19 two e-scooter rental companies, Lime and Neuron, both insist that their accident rates are
01:24 marginal.
01:25 We've got a huge opportunity identified in this study to increase the public education
01:30 around the risks of e-scooters and the way to ride them more safely.
01:34 In terms of e-scooter accidents, it's that they are on a parallel with regular bikes.
01:43 The study's authors warn the injuries have continued across repeat trial extensions.
01:48 They say tightening safety and a levy paid by hire companies to bridge an insurance gap
01:53 could help ease a substantial health burden.
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