In August, 301 people were treated at the Oslo emergency room for injuries connected to electric scooters. That is around 100 fewer cases than in July.
In June and July, the figures were 436 and 410 cases, respectively. But despite the decline, there are still many people who injure themselves badly on e-scooters.
Chief physician Henrik Siverts at the emergency department told NTB that there are still many people who come directly to Ullevål hospital with serious injuries.
“We have serious facial and jaw injuries and internal bleeding in the head. So whether there are 14 or 10 injuries per day, it’s still a lot,” Siverts said.
Mostly men
The figures show that men injure themselves on electric scooters more often. For a long time, the distribution has been 60% men and 40% women.
The average age of the injured is around 27-28 years, but Siverts says that there are also many children who get injured while using e-scooters.
“But the distribution of the serious injuries is evenly distributed over all age groups.”
32% of all injuries occur in the period between 11 PM and 5 AM. At Oslo University Hospital, it is still believed that stopping the electric scooter service at night is the best solution, especially with a view to reducing alcohol-related injuries.
The measures have helped
The reason for the decrease in the number of injuries is complex, the doctors believe.
“We hope and believe that all the media coverage and the focus on the significant extent of injuries have had an effect on the users,” Siverts said.
” We are also absolutely certain that the measures the companies have taken have had an effect. But ten injuries per day show that there is still some way to go.”
Sharp cut
The number of electric scooters will be sharply cut in Oslo from September 10. The Municipality has decided to implement a maximum number of 8,000 electric scooters, which is far lower than the 25,000 rentals that can currently be found on the streets of Oslo.
In addition, there is an unknown number of electric scooters in private ownership.
“I think it will lead to a clearer traffic picture,” the doctor said, adding that it could also – hopefully – lead to a further reduction in the number of injuries.
So far this year, a total of 1,579 cases of injuries in connection with driving electric scooters have been treated at the emergency room.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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