Injuries from electric bikes and scooters are on the rise. Riders who rent without helmets are partly to blame.

Recent years have seen a huge increase in the popularity of electric bikes and scooters. Many large U.S. cities now have an e-bike ride-sharing program, allowing people to catch a ride whenever they want, and sales of these devices have increased. 40% only in 2022. However, this trend has led to an increase in the number of injuries.

New research published in Open JAMA Network studied information from medical databases on 86,623 people from 2017 to 2022 and found that e-bike injuries increased by nearly 100% and e-scooter injuries increased by more than 45% annually.

“Injured electric vehicle users were older and wore less helmets than those injured in conventional vehicles,” the researchers wrote in the study. They also noted that the findings “suggest that safer riding infrastructure and riding practices are important for reducing the rise in micromobility injuries.” (“Micromobility” refers to e-bikes and scooters.)

Doctors are not surprised by the findings and say these numbers are likely an underestimate. “I think the real numbers are much worse,” Dr Ali Jamehdormedical director of the Weingart Foundation Emergency Department at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, tells Yahoo Life.

Dr. Michael Levine, emergency medicine physician at UCLA Health, agrees. “I definitely see these injuries frequently — daily,” he told Yahoo Life. “Usually people are running, they hit a bump and fall, or a car stops in front of them and they don’t notice.”

Why is wearing a helmet on an electric bike so important?

Doctors and public health experts have recommended wearing a helmet when riding a non-electric bike for years, and emergency room doctors who treat these injuries emphasize that this is even more important on an electric bike. “They are very similar to a motorcycle,” says Jamehdor. “Most people wouldn’t think of riding a motorcycle without a helmet.”

The big problem with these bikes is their power, Dr., associate professor of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, told Yahoo Life. “Electric bikes and scooters can accelerate faster, travel at higher speeds and are heavier than conventional bikes and scooters, which increases the risk of injury during an accident,” he says. Most people who drive them may not know how to operate the machines, especially if they rent them, Jamehdor says.

Many of these injured motorcyclists are also older and physically inactive, and some of the accidents may involve drugs and alcohol, Dr Nicholas Kman, an emergency physician at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told Yahoo Life. For seniors who take medications like blood thinners, injuries can be even worse, he says.

What types of injuries can happen?

“We see a lot of head and facial injuries – dental injuries – when these patients hit a curb, sidewalk or other hard surface,” Kman says. “Furthermore, many of them happen in crowded urban environments, where a car could collide with an electric bike or scooter.”

Levine says he saw a range of injuries, from cuts and lacerations to broken bones. “Occasionally we will see serious head injuries caused by falls from these bikes and scooters,” he says.

The combination of speed and potential fall risk is scary, says Jamehdor. “Head trauma can cause life-altering or life-ending injuries,” he says. “It may take a fraction of a second for this drop to occur.”

Doctors say renting electric bikes and scooters is a problem

Most people who rent these bikes still don’t have helmets — and they aren’t available to users when they rent the bike, Levine points out. “These people don’t necessarily wear helmets all day,” he says. “Because helmets are not offered, people think these bikes are safe.”

Jamehdor points out that almost all companies that make these bikes say cyclists must wear helmets, “but the bikes are positioned everywhere, including in tourist areas near the beach.”

“I don’t go to the beach with a helmet”, he continues. “People think at the last minute, ‘Let me jump on this thing,’ and then it’s too late.”

Kman says there is value in considering helmet rentals as part of e-bike and scooter rentals, making it easier for people to choose to be protected right now. Jamehdor agrees. “If these companies really want to take safety seriously, they should make people show proof that they are wearing a helmet before they can activate these machines,” he says. “There needs to be more security built into these things.”

In general, doctors emphasize the importance of wearing a helmet for cyclists, including on electric bicycles and scooters. “A helmet can save your life,” says Kman. “This could prevent serious facial, neck or neurological injuries that could alter the rest of your life. Keep in mind that these vehicles are common in urban environments where the road is shared with much larger vehicles.”

In addition to wearing a helmet, Levine says it’s important to use “street sense” around cars. “Also be aware that the car will suffer far fewer injuries than the motorcyclist,” he adds.