New post on hundreds of SDOT e-scooter injuries reported by Harborview researchers

[Douglas MacDonald]

This was posed today:

https://www.postalley.org/2025/05/09/seattles-scooter-safety-problem/

The short of it is that SDOT’s shared e-scooters have led to hundreds of injuries treated at UW Medicine Facilities including the Harborview ER. The rest of the story is that SDOT has known the high level of injury risk for years and tried its hardest to make sure the facts do not reach the public. Including by trying - unsuccessfully - to stop the Harborview research it had itself proposed and advertised to the public, designed, and even committed to funding. 

I do not believe that SDOT is an organization that, despite its Vision Zero mantra, can claim as a core value that it regards all fatalities and series injuries as unacceptable. At least not when it speaks of its own shared micromobility program.

[Scott Obray]

The trend for 2025 looks to be about 200 injuries over 2,000,000 trips. Seems really good to me.

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[Brent McFarlane]

You might want to read the article.  In fact I hope most of you do read it. An eye opener. 

On May 9, 2025, at 9:25 PM, Scott Obray <sobr...@gmail.com> wrote:

The trend for 2025 looks to be about 200 injuries over 2,000,000 trips. Seems really good to me.

On Fri, May 9, 2025, 5:58 PM Douglas MacDonald <dbmac...@earthlink.net> wrote:

This was posted today:

https://www.postalley.org/2025/05/09/seattles-scooter-safety-problem/

The short of it is that SDOT’s shared e-scooters have led to hundreds of injuries treated at UW Medicine Facilities including the Harborview ER. The rest of the story is that SDOT has known the high level of injury risk for years and tried its hardest to make sure the facts do not reach the public. Including by trying - unsuccessfully - to stop the Harborview research it had itself proposed and advertised to the public, designed, and even committed to funding. 

I do not believe that SDOT is an organization that, despite its Vision Zero mantra, can claim as a core value that it regards all fatalities and series injuries as unacceptable. At least not when it speaks of its own shared micromobility program.

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[psil...@gmail.com]

I didn't see data scaled by usage. (E.g. injuries per mile, trip, or hour)

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[Scott Obray]

Correction. The trend for 2025 is 6,000,000 trips (shared scooter and bike).

-Scott

Scott Obray

[Barbara Phinney]

Great work on this, Doug MacDonald. 

Sharing with Seattle/King County Public Health - it’s a public health issue, too. 

Additionally many people injured may not have health insurance or have an unaffordable co-pay and choose not to seek medical care. 

So many ways the deleterious effects of Lime e-scooters & e-bikes in Seattle aren’t captured. 

Another business model of all gain and no pain for them, using public infrastructure with de facto no regulation by the city. 

Barbara P

On May 9, 2025, at 9:58 PM, psil...@gmail.com wrote:



I didn't see data scaled by usage. (E.g. injuries per mile, trip, or hour)

On Fri, May 9, 2025, 9:42 PM 'Brent McFarlane' via NW Greenways <greenwood-phi...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

You might want to read the article.  In fact I hope most of you do read it. An eye opener. 

On May 9, 2025, at 9:25 PM, Scott Obray <sobr...@gmail.com> wrote:

The trend for 2025 looks to be about 200 injuries over 2,000,000 trips. Seems really good to me.

On Fri, May 9, 2025, 5:58 PM Douglas MacDonald <dbmac...@earthlink.net> wrote:

This was posted today:

https://www.postalley.org/2025/05/09/seattles-scooter-safety-problem/

The short of it is that SDOT’s shared e-scooters have led to hundreds of injuries treated at UW Medicine Facilities including the Harborview ER. The rest of the story is that SDOT has known the high level of injury risk for years and tried its hardest to make sure the facts do not reach the public. Including by trying - unsuccessfully - to stop the Harborview research it had itself proposed and advertised to the public, designed, and even committed to funding. 

I do not believe that SDOT is an organization that, despite its Vision Zero mantra, can claim as a core value that it regards all fatalities and series injuries as unacceptable. At least not when it speaks of its own shared micromobility program.

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<capitol-hill-scooter-bike-demo-day.jpeg>

[Douglas MacDonald]

Great work on this, Doug MacDonald. 

Sharing with Seattle/King County Public Health - it’s a public health issue, too. Additionally many people injured may not have health insurance or have an unaffordable co-pay and choose not to seek medical care. 

So many ways the deleterious effects of Lime e-scooters & e-bikes in Seattle aren’t captured. 

Another business model of all gain and no pain for them, using public infrastructure with de facto no regulation by the city.

Thanks for this note, Barbara. I’m glad I shared the link with this group. 

I’m out-of-pocket for a week and then I am eager to return to a suggestion that turned up in one of the comments from this Greenways group: What about the metrics of safety per million trips: Aren’t they pretty good?

Great question. This is a question that really needs a strong response.  I’m working on it..

Meanwhile, since I wear another hat (author’s husband), if anyone is interested in trees, which a lot of people are, make sure to check out Lynda’s new book:  The Trees Are Speaking.  Published by UW  Press.

Five stars on Amazon. #1 new release in Trees and Forests:  https://www.amazon.com/Trees-Are-Speaking-Dispatches-Forests/dp/0295753676. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenwood-phinney-greenways/46D9FE83-40A5-4CC0-BE95-D587F9C0E5C7%40mac.com.

[Aaron Shay]

I've had friends get seriously injured on these things. The risk is real.

However, I'm skeptical of this article's data. It only counts the number of injuries, not the rate of injuries. These scooters have gotten more popular since 2020, so it would make sense that injuries would go up. More people are using them.

How many injuries are there per X miles traveled for e-scooters? And how does that compare to the injuries per X miles traveled for single-occupancy cars, which is considered an acceptable risk by most people? The article doesn't say.

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[Brent McFarlane]

As a pedestrian in Seattle, I’ve had many close calls esp downtown at night (walking on the sidewalk). As many of you have likely experienced rental scooters and  e-bikes at high speeds on the sidewalk weaving around unsuspecting pedestrians like it’s a game.

The problem of scooters left randomly on sidewalks, bus stops, ADA ramps and doorways, etc is ongoing.  The rental companies can track where each scooter is left but apparently face no penalty or fines for hindering pedestrian mobility.  So a Wild West mentality has become the status quo.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 11, 2025, at 7:36 AM, Aaron Shay <h...@aaronjshay.net> wrote:



I've had friends get seriously injured on these things. The risk is real.

However, I'm skeptical of this article's data. It only counts the number of injuries, not the rate of injuries. These scooters have gotten more popular since 2020, so it would make sense that injuries would go up. More people are using them.

How many injuries are there per X miles traveled for e-scooters? And how does that compare to the injuries per X miles traveled for single-occupancy cars, which is considered an acceptable risk by most people? The article doesn't say.

On Sun, May 11, 2025 at 7:19 AM Douglas MacDonald <dbmac...@earthlink.net> wrote:

Great work on this, Doug MacDonald. 

Sharing with Seattle/King County Public Health - it’s a public health issue, too. Additionally many people injured may not have health insurance or have an unaffordable co-pay and choose not to seek medical care. 

So many ways the deleterious effects of Lime e-scooters & e-bikes in Seattle aren’t captured. 

Another business model of all gain and no pain for them, using public infrastructure with de facto no regulation by the city.

Thanks for this note, Barbara. I’m glad I shared the link with this group. 

I’m out-of-pocket for a week and then I am eager to return to a suggestion that turned up in one of the comments from this Greenways group: What about the metrics of safety per million trips: Aren’t they pretty good?

Great question. This is a question that really needs a strong response.  I’m working on it..

Meanwhile, since I wear another hat (author’s husband), if anyone is interested in trees, which a lot of people are, make sure to check out Lynda’s new book:  The Trees Are Speaking.  Published by UW  Press.

Five stars on Amazon. #1 new release in Trees and Forests:  https://www.amazon.com/Trees-Are-Speaking-Dispatches-Forests/dp/0295753676. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenwood-phinney-greenways/CAK%2BdGYrrVjF9moucB5eH36M5Pui4oDrhy38bNXHO2648AgSJYw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Mark H and Jan P]

And the lack of good citizenry on the part of scooter users antagonizes motorists against any other mode of transportation except vehicle travel.  

Mark

Mark Hammarlund and 

Jan Peterson

mark...@comcast.net

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[Brent McFarlane]

Lack of civility / reckless riding  appears to be a much greater % with rental scooters than with personally owned scooters.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 11, 2025, at 11:39 AM, 'Mark H and Jan P' via NW Greenways <greenwood-phi...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

And the lack of good citizenry on the part of scooter users antagonizes motorists against any other mode of transportation except vehicle travel.  

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenwood-phinney-greenways/152C9949-632F-4AA1-BA27-49ECF75C0D20%40comcast.net.

[joshk...@gmail.com]

I wanted to share a few quick data points to keep our priorities straight:

1. Scooter injuries are a tiny slice of our overall crash toll.

   • UW Medicine treated about 280 e-scooter injuries from 2021–2023, and Harborview saw 163 serious e-scooter/e-bike injuries in 2024—fewer than 450 total over four years.

   • By contrast, Seattle logs 10,000+ traffic crashes annually, resulting in roughly 180 serious injuries and 28 deaths each year.

   • Per‑ride injury rate comparison: scooters incur about 2 serious injuries per 100,000 rides, versus 3–8 serious injuries per 100,000 bike share trips and 50+ serious injuries per 100,000 car trips (reflecting higher speeds and mass).

2. Lime’s market share drives the raw injury numbers.

   • In 2024, Seattle recorded 6.3 million bike + scooter trips, of which Lime accounted for ~93% (nearly 5.9 million rides).

   • It’s no surprise that most scooter injuries involve Lime devices—they simply represent the vast majority of rides, not because they’re inherently more dangerous.

3. Scooters are replacing car trips and cutting crash exposure.

   • SDOT’s pilot evaluation found that a large share of shared-micromobility trips replaced what riders would otherwise have driven or ride-hailed, reducing vehicle miles traveled and lowering the chance of car crashes.

Honestly, the impact of scooters on our overall safety picture is minimal compared to cars, missing sidewalks, speeding, and other infrastructure issues. I’d much rather someone zip past me on a scooter than be hurt by that same person driving recklessly in a car.

Let’s keep the conversation—and our advocacy—focused on the biggest danger: cars, not scooters.

Thanks,
Josh

[tom lang]

I agree 100%, Josh. There are definitely improvements to be made in how the city regulates floating scooter and bike share, and definitely improvements need to be made in bike/scooter infrastructure, but don’t throw out a huge win for emissions reductions (fewer people driving cars in the city) just because a few people misuse the service. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenwood-phinney-greenways/3ebbf223-4a22-438f-bd40-6c9780a87f08n%40googlegroups.com.

[Brent McFarlane]

In the article it’s pointed out that there was no collected data from Swedish or Virginia Mason (or Kaiser) hospitals.

The lack of comprehensive health care city wide is also a factor.  The data capture is incomplete and that’s one big reason for an independent study and evaluation.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 11, 2025, at 1:51 PM, joshk...@gmail.com wrote:



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[Mark H and Jan P]

Where I used to live, in Copenhagen, people looked at things from several perspectives simultaneously.  Few people are only motorists in Denmark.  As such, there has developed in Denmark a culture of courtesy and safety that extends to all means of transportation.  Everyone is expected to be respectful of the rules.  If a scooter rider were observed riding haphazardly, weaving in and out between pedestrians as if it were a game, as Brent has noted, that person would be challenged immediately, as would the motorist (often a tourist) who doesn’t respect cyclists' rights and safety privileges.  Let’s evolve in the direction of mutual interest.  

Mark

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[Aaron Shay]

That's an interesting idea. How do we challenge reckless, dangerous drivers? 

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[Mark H and Jan P]

Jan and I are flying to Copenhagen on Wednesday.  I plan to talk to a transportation expert whom I’ve known for many years, to see if I can gather some additional insights about Danish transportation history.  When I discuss Seattle-area transportation problems with motorist friends in Seattle, I often discover people who are put off by multi-modal development. Essentially, they want cars to continue to own the road, and they often contend that Denmark is the way that it is because it is flat land.  That’s nonsense.   Now the infrastructure is complete in many urban areas of Denmark, with elevation differences between bike, motorway, and pedestrian paths.   Peace reigns.  The lane development exposes violators; there is no excuse not to use the proper lane, and fines are imposed on rule violators.  

For a very long time after WWII, Danes were fiercely divided.  Motorists had attitudes that we often find in Seattle. It took patience, advocacy and consciousness-raising, just as we are doing in the Puget Sound area, led by organizations like Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, and it took a long time after WWII for Danes to find a happy balance between pedestrians, cyclists/scooters, and motorists. 

Mark

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