Hospitalizations for electric scooter accidents see sharp jump

15 people sent to the hospital during first 3 months of 2019 for scooter-related injuries, up from 8 during the same period last year

A report released Sunday found a marked rise over the past year in the number of people hospitalized for injuries related to electric scooter accidents.

There was also a notable, yet smaller drop in percentage terms during the same period in the number of people requiring hospitalization for electric bicycle accidents, the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Policy Research Institute report said.

While there was one hospitalization for a scooter accident during the first quarter of 2017, that number rose to eight in 2018, before nearly doubling to 15 during the first three months of this year.

For electric-bike-related accidents, 116 people were hospitalized from January through March, down from 157 during that time in 2018.

A man rides an electric bicycle in Tel Aviv on July 5, 2016. (Flickr/Ted Eytan/CC BY-SA)

Hospitalizations for pedestrians injured by both electric scooters and bikes was also down, with six people being hospitalized in the first quarter, a drop from 17 last year.

Overall, 16 were people seriously or critically injured in electric scooter and bike accidents in the first three months of 2019, after standing at 18 in both the previous two years.

The increase in electric scooter injuries comes amid a boom in popularity of the vehicles, with rental programs being rolled out in Tel Aviv.