In Lviv, over the past almost five months, 280 people who were injured in road accidents involving e-scooters have sought medical help. According to the city health department, 140 of them were children.
Some of the injured made their own way to hospital, while others were taken by emergency medical teams. In total, 80 children and 3 adults required hospitalisation.
Doctors stress that most of these incidents could have been prevented if safety rules had been followed and protective gear used. According to the medical director of St Nicholas Hospital of the First Medical Association of Lviv, Oleksandr Kalinchuk, children almost always ride without helmets or other protective equipment.
In 99% of cases, children ride without any protective gear at all. For an unprotected child who falls at that speed, the injury is massive. In a single moment, a healthy and active teenager can be left with a severe disability or even be killed. This is not the result of a long illness — it is a split second that completely changes the life of an entirely healthy child — Oleksandr Kalinchuk
After e-scooter accidents, children often sustain broken arms and legs, severe facial injuries, as well as traumatic brain injuries. In the case of serious trauma, treatment can last from six months to a year: doctors have to carry out a series of operations and fit metal structures.
Against the backdrop of the rising number of injuries linked to the use of e-scooters, Lviv has tightened the rules for micromobility devices. The new requirements include a minimum user age of 16, mandatory use of protective helmets, a speed limit of 15 km/h in potentially dangerous areas, as well as regulated parking for e-scooters.