Girls injure themselves twice as often as boys on e-scooters

E-scooters have become incredibly popular here in Norway in only a short amount of time.

They are fun to use, but they can also be quite dangerous.

Many trips end with a crash, a fall, and a visit to the emergency room.

Those who are young are most often injured.

Guys often take more risks

Generally, it is boys who are most prone to accidents.

But when it comes to e-scooters, girls seem to be unluckier than boys, according to a new Norwegian study.

The researchers who have studied this are unsure why the trend is different.

They think it's weird. They know from other research that boys often take more risks than girls.

Have suspicions as to why

Perhaps it is connected to the fact that girls often ride e-scooters with friends.

This is researcher Aslak Fyhri’s suspicion. He works at the Institute of Transport Economics. Fyhri believes that they must investigate this further to be sure.

In July last year, more than 14 people went to the emergency room in Oslo every single day due to injuries related to e-scooters.

In fact, there is between five and seven times the risk of injuring yourself on an e-scooter compared to a normal bicycle, according to research.

Stricter rules/laws

Now the politicians have become a little stricter about how e-scooters should be used.

For example, you are not allowed to ride an e-scooter without a helmet if you are under 15 years old.

It is also not allowed to have more than one person on the vehicle.

There have now been fewer accidents, but there are still far too many people who injure themselves.

Walk and cycle less

Many more people use e-scooters instead of walking or cycling nowadays, but how does this impact young people’s health?

Researchers are also interested in this.

Research shows that teenagers walk and cycle less now than before. A survey shows that almost six out of ten teenagers replaced walking with an e-scooter on their last trip.

This is problematic because being active is important for our health.

Also positives

However, there is also something positive about using e-scooters, researchers believe.

It allows young people to get around more easily and may lessen the time they sit in front of a screen.

It is obviously not good for your health to replace cycling or walking with a vehicle where you stand completely still.

But it is positive that young people are becoming more social, the researchers believe.

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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik.

Read the Norwegian version of this article on our youth pages ung.forskning.no

References:

'Klare kjønnsforskjeller i ulykker på elsparkesykler' (Clear gender differences in e-scooter accidents), Institute of Transport Economics , September 2022.

'Nesten 6 av 10 ungdommer erstattet gange med elsparkesykkel på siste tur' (Almost 6 out of 10 teenagers replaced walking with an e-scooter on their last trip), Institute of Transport Economics, June 2022.

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