They were 21, 22 years old, and the oldest was in their thirties. Last week, three young people lost their lives following a fall from an electric scooter. If these deaths so close together, occurring in Montbéliard, Dunkirk and Lyon, are probably the result of a sad coincidence, they push us to ask ourselves this question: do we risk a lot for our health, even for our life, when the do we ride on the handlebars of these vehicles, also called personal motorized travel devices (EDPM)?
What is certain is that although the number of deaths remains well below other categories, it has greatly increased with the rise of this means of transport which is as practical as it is ecological. According to the Road safety figures44 users were killed last year, while 2.5 million French people own an EDPM compared to 640,000 in 2020. If 2024 is not over, the number of deaths does not seem to jump compared to the previous year. But another figure worries the authorities, that of serious accidents, 700 of which have been recorded over the last twelve months (+ 9%).
A phenomenon that is all the more worrying as scooter users seem particularly vulnerable: although they only represent 0.2% of travel times, the proportion of injured people with after-effects (10%) and serious injuries (4%) continues. to increase (like cyclists). “Mortality is the tip of the iceberg,” says 20 Minutes Doctor Arthur James, resuscitator anesthesiologist at the Parisian Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital. Behind it, there is the burden of chronic pain, people who limp, others who cannot return to work for six months… There can be a real alteration in the quality of life. »
Severe head trauma
If the luckiest escape with a sprained ankle, others are much less well off and Arthur James sees this very regularly. “Between 2019 and 2022, scooter accidents with a risk of death have increased almost threefold,” continues the lecturer, whose Traubase research group produced a study on the subject last year. And despite a supposedly lower speed, these are accidents as serious than for people on motorbikes, with two thirds of them needing surgery, particularly for fractures. There are also more head injuries, which are more serious. » For Arthur James, “we must surely link the fact that we have less than half of the patients who wear a helmet, and that a third arrive alcoholic at the time of treatment. »
If the circumstances of the tragedies of recent days are not all known, we know that each time, there was no intervention by a third party, as in 60% of falls, indicates the Observatory of micromobility. The Lyon student, who succumbed to her injuries this weekend, was returning from a party when she lost control of her machine, before finishing her race in the back of a truck. The other two victims, one of whom was not wearing a helmetfell alone in the street, one in the middle of the afternoon.
A more difficult machine to master?
Which leads some users, especially beginners, to say that the scooter itself would be particularly dangerous. Or in any case more difficult to master than a two-wheeler, particularly in the fifty or so cities which still had a self-service scooter service, i.e. a fleet of 22,500 machines available for drivers who are not always informed…
“Its small wheels poorly absorb paving stones, potholes and other imperfections in the surface,” explained economist and urban planner Frédéric Héran in an article published in The Conversation. Its short wheelbase and the position of the walker quite high and in the middle of the vehicle [alors que le cycliste est plus en arrière] increase the risk of tipping forward. The too narrow platform forces the user to position their feet crooked, not without consequences. »
Last year, regulations were tightened by banning scooters for children under 14 years old. Checks are increasing, in particular to prevent two people from riding the same machine, or to check that the pilot is not wearing headphones. But many voices are still being raised to make wearing a helmet, which is strongly recommended, compulsory.