Report finds rise in child brain injuries from e-scooters
www.rte.ie
A new report from the College of Physicians has found that e-scooters are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries to children at Temple Street Hospital.
  • Saapas@piefed.zipEnglish
    1·
    20 hours ago

    I think scooters are fun and sometimes pretty handy. But I’m not sure why at least the rental companies aren’t made to more aggressively limit who can ride them. I guess the answer is money but still.

  • supamanc@lemmy.world
    9·
    2 days ago

    Interesting to note that in only one case was a helmet being worn! No way would I give a child a scooter (electric or otherwise) without a helmet!

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      I rode a bicycle to the 10th grade when I wrecked it in a non-dramatic fashion. Down the boulevard of a busy rural highway (shippers and logging) I’d ride every day to school.

      I’ve never worn a helmet. #gen-x

      Not proud of it, but it’s a quirk. I came here more to say that helmets are new for some of us.

      Wasn’t there a paper about behavior changes with helmets and how the added safety could be off-set by more risk?

      Finally: what’s the helmet situation in other countries, especially around ad-hoc rental scooters? I see scooters and bikes for rent here, but no buckets to wear, and I wonder the legality of that too.

      • Tangentism@lemmy.ml
        2·
        20 hours ago

        what’s the helmet situation in other countries, especially around ad-hoc rental scooters? I see scooters and bikes for rent here, but no buckets to wear, and I wonder the legality of that too.

        Outside of Australia, helmets are not mandatory and data from there shows it has had a negative effect on not only the numbers of cyclists, reducing “safety in numbers” but also an increase in children with head injuries, because drivers are less risk adverse (“Mary Poppins effect” - drivers give more space & make less dangerous passes around cyclists in everyday clothing).

        The most simple solution to increasing cyclist (and pedestrian) safety is to build better infrastructure. Design roads so that vehicles have to slow for junctions and roundabouts, especially where there’s mixed modal traffic. Prioritise active and public transport over inactive modes. Make cycle, walking & bus routes more direct and make driving routes more circuitous. Discourage driving into town centres and stop building out of town retail parks.

        Back to the topic in hand:

        If anyone wants to claim that “helmets save lives” then why aren’t they advocating them for vehicle passengers, who experience greater numbers and severity of head injuries than cyclists, or for pedestrians who have about the same number, possibly slightly more than cyclists?

      • supamanc@lemmy.world
        2·
        2 days ago

        I obviously never wore a helmet as a kid either, but i’m an adult now, and far more aware of the risks and the evidence is overwhelming that helmets reduce that risk. But when I see kids riding to school in my area, I’d say the majority wear their lid.

    • fahfahfahfah@lemmy.billiam.netEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      Children have such a weird aversion to wearing a helmet. I remember when I was in middle school school, other kids used to leave their helmets in a bush by their house so their parents wouldn’t find out and then pick them back up on the way home.