Electric scooters (e-scooters) have taken major cities by storm, offering a zippy and convenient way to scoot around. But, with great speed comes great responsibility, and ensuring safe and sustainable e-scooter use is a delicate dance.
Cities like Denver and Fort Collins are paving the way with regulations and infrastructure, but accidents inevitably happen. The sobering truth? The official crash count tells only part of the story.
Denver Police Department reports 64 reported collisions in 2023, leaving 11 seriously injured and 1 tragically killed. But delve deeper, and Denver Health reveals a staggering 1,449 “patient encounters” with scooter injuries – nearly four a day. Worse, this ties the 2022 record, hinting at a plateauing but persistent problem.
With over 4,500 e-scooters buzzing around Denver daily, the city is scrambling to keep everyone safe. Designated dismount zones and slowdown areas are popping up, aiming to create a more harmonious scooter-pedestrian-car ecosystem.
Fort Collins, another e-scooter haven, offers its own set of statistics and initiatives. It’s crucial to compare notes and best practices across cities to find a universal formula for safe scooting.
