19 victims of electric scooter accidents – BauskasDzive.lv

According to the data of the State Police, electric scooters have already been involved in 29 road traffic accidents, in which 19 people were injured, this year until mid-April. In order to reduce the number of accidents and injuries related to electric scooters, as well as improve traffic safety in general, the State Police, in cooperation with partners Stradiņa Hospital and “Bolt”, is organizing the informational campaign “The fastest way to get to the hospital”, informs Līna Bagdone, senior specialist of the Public Relations Department of the State Police .

Content will continue after the ad.

Nine drivers were injured in Jelgava, none were recorded in Bauska

In 2023, 19 traffic accidents involving electric scooters were recorded in Dienjizemgale precinct, all in Jelgava. Nine drivers were injured. No accident has been registered in Bauska. Road traffic accidents involving electric scooters have not been registered in the South Zemgale precinct in 2024, Rūta Strautniece, the senior specialist of the Public Relations Department of the State Police in matters of administration of the Zemgale region, clarifies to “Bauskas Dzīvei”.

“With the start of the new spring season, the first road traffic accidents involving drivers of electric scooters have already occurred. This means that some road users have forgotten or simply don’t know how to move properly in road traffic with an electric scooter in the winter season, so as not to endanger themselves or others. Also, by analyzing the statistics available to the police, it can be concluded that the majority of violations committed by road users with electric scooters are driving under the influence and transporting passengers, which shows that there are still road users who are indifferent to their own traffic safety and that of their fellow citizens. ,» the situation is analyzed by the head of the Response Department of the State Police, Juris Jančevskis.

Content will continue after the ad.

In order to reduce the number of violations and injuries of electric scooter drivers, the State Police together with Stradins Hospital and “Bolt” are organizing an informational campaign “The fastest way to get to the hospital”. With campaign materials in the media, social networks and in the urban environment, the State Police and its partners inform about accident and injury statistics, typical accidents and injuries, as well as share real stories of the victims’ experiences, thus clearly demonstrating that aggressive driving while intoxicated and breaking the rules is the fastest way, how to get to the hospital.

High trauma

Doctors have also been raising alarm for a long time about the number and severity of injuries sustained in e-scooter accidents. Head injuries are particularly serious, life-threatening and can have lifelong consequences for a person’s health.

Content will continue after the ad.

Anna Ivanova, the head of the Oral, Facial and Maxillofacial Surgery Center of Stradiņš Hospital, says: “Injuries sustained when falling from electric scooters are very severe – more than half of the patients who have come to Stradiņš Hospital after such accidents have directly suffered head injuries. In the best case, these are wounds, abrasions, bruises, injuries without bone fractures, often in combination with dental injuries. But in many cases, they are also serious injuries, such as fractures of the skull and facial bones, which require surgery, intensive therapy and a long recovery process.»

Broken skulls and metal plates in the face for life

Over the course of three years, 410 people with head and face injuries sustained while riding an electric scooter have arrived at the Oral, Facial and Maxillofacial Surgery Center of Stradiņa Hospital, according to the data collected by the center. The most frequent diagnoses in these cases were open head wounds and fractures of various facial bones, explains center manager Anna Ivanova.

Content will continue after the ad.

From 2021 to 2023, a total of 410 people with various head and face injuries following electric scooter accidents were treated at Stradiņa Hospital, of which open head wounds were found in 220 cases, mandibular fractures in 71 cases, cheekbone and maxilla fractures in 58 cases, and in 46 cases the nasal bones of the victims were broken, according to the data collected by Edgars Freimanis, assistant physician at the Trauma Center of the Face and Jaw Surgery at Stradiņa Hospital.

“Our observations allow us to conclude that the typical victim of e-scooter accidents is a young man under the influence of alcohol, moreover, accidents occur more often at night. The largest number of victims is in the age group from 20 to 23 years old, but there are also quite a lot of patients aged from 23 to 38 years old, and the oldest patient was 66 years old. One of the most frequent causes of accidents is driving under the influence of alcohol – a third of the victims have admitted that they have driven under the influence, but in reality this number could be even higher, as there is no data related to alcohol consumption for 40% of patients,” explains E. Freimanis. He emphasizes that almost all the victims were driving without protective equipment, and during these three years only one patient was recorded who was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.

“For fractures of the facial bones, osteosynthesis is performed, or the joining of bones with metal mini or microplates, which most often remain in the human body for life. The cost of materials for osteosynthesis surgery is 3,000 to 5,000 euros, which is covered by the state budget. However, facial injuries most often also include dental injuries, the treatment of which the patient has to cover out of his own pocket. The treatment of such injuries in the hospital can last up to three weeks, but most often after that, patients continue to be treated in outpatient and dental clinics for up to a year,” says A. Ivanova.

Content will continue after the ad.

Carrying a child can end tragically

Cases involving children in e-scooter accidents are particularly worrying. Although most often children end up at the Children’s Clinical University Hospital after accidents, 30 children under the age of 18 have been treated in the Oral, Facial and Maxillofacial Surgery Center of Stradiņa Hospital over three years, with injuries ranging from facial abrasions to jawbone fractures.

Dr. A. Ivanova emphasizes that the most potentially dangerous thing is to take the child as a passenger standing on the electric scooter between the steering wheel and the driver: “If an emergency situation occurs when driving like this, the scooter driver falls forward and presses the child to the steering wheel with all his weight, which often at the height of the child’s face. In this way, a child can get really terrible injuries.»

Content will continue after the ad.

When you see such cases, when a child is being transported on a scooter as a passenger, the State Police urges you to report it by calling 110. If riders travel with a “Bolt” rental scooter, they can report to the “Bolt” company, which in such cases can identify the user and limit its access to the app.

For aggressive riders – limited access to “Bolt” scooters

The campaign partner is also the scooter rental company “Bolt”, which has implemented various solutions to promote the safe use of electric scooters, and also places campaign materials in its app.

Content will continue after the ad.

“Safety is one of our main priorities, so we are always introducing new solutions to promote it. One of the most successful solutions of «Bolt» is the reckless driving indicator introduced last summer, with the help of which we can measure and analyze the behavior and actions of our users during the trip, as well as identify dangerous situations and safety violations, thanks to the wide range of sensors of the scooter. If a user’s riding behavior does not improve after being warned, we may restrict their access to Bolt scooters. Along with our own initiatives, we actively cooperate with the State Police, exchanging useful information. Thus, we can capture dangerous or aggressive scooter drivers and, if necessary, block them in the system. I hope that together we will be able to promote a faster change of habits and safe movement of reckless scooter users, as well as improve the general culture of driving scooters in Latvia,” says Valts Marga, senior specialist of “Bolt” scooter operations in Latvia.

The traffic safety campaign “The fastest way to get to the hospital” is organized by the State Police in cooperation with Stradiņa Hospital and “Bolt”. The campaign is financed from the funds of the Latvian Vehicle Insurers Office.