In Vilnius last year, more injuries were recorded while riding scooters – MadeinVilnius.lt

In Vilnius last year, the number of people applying for injuries after traveling by electric scooter increased, but fewer serious injuries were found.

According to Dalius Matkevičius, director of Vilnius University Hospital’s Žalgiris Clinic, this can be seen by comparing the numbers of 2022 and 2023 and patients who apply for all injuries related to electric scooters.

“Those numbers were 2,100 cases in 2022, and 2,362 cases in 2023,” D. Matkevičius said earlier at a press conference in the Seimas.

According to him, last year, patients with severe injuries who require reconstructive operations came to the clinics less often, and their incapacity for work lasts up to two years.

“In 2022, we had 710 such cases, and in 2023, we had 409 cases,” the director said.

“That number of 200 persons, which varies, is from serious cases moved to mild, outpatient cases,” he added.

Drunkenness is often found in seriously injured people

Vilma Traškaitė-Juškevičienė, an anesthesiologist and reanimatologist at Kaunas clinics, stated in a comment to BNS that the clinics do not have general statistics on injuries related to electric scooters.

“According to neurosurgeons, 23 people were treated for scooter-related head injuries in 2023,” the doctor said.

Every year, 100-120 patients apply to the Klaipėda University Hospital (KUL) due to injuries after riding a scooter. As the hospital told BNS, most people apply from mid-May to the end of September. About 10 percent victims are admitted to the Reanimation and Intensive Care Unit due to their serious condition.

According to the doctor of the Kaunas Clinics, injuries related to electric scooters range from minor bruises, concussions, tooth injuries and bone fractures, but severe head injuries also occur – as a result, patients have to undergo neurosurgery.

“I know of one case where a woman riding a scooter died from an injury related to the use of a scooter. The injury occurred when she was hit by a car. There was not only a brain injury, but also a spinal injury,” said V. Traškaitė-Juškevičienė.

At that time, KUL traumatologist Karolis Jurgelaitis said that in cases of serious injuries, drunkenness is often detected in the emergency department.

According to the specialist, the nature of injuries suffered by scooter riders shows that safety requirements must be followed in order to avoid most injuries, especially complex ones.

“Usually, scooter riders who have suffered injuries and are admitted to the hospital are without helmets and other protective equipment. It is important to understand that traffic rules also apply to scooter drivers. It is necessary for them to wear a helmet, to assess the traffic, to choose a safe speed, not to ride one scooter for two people”, said the doctor.

At the end of March, the Seimas started considering an initiative that would require all scooter drivers to wear helmets, regardless of their age. Currently, helmets are only mandatory for under 18s.

From January of this year, new requirements for scooters adopted by the parliament also came into force – the speed of scooters is limited, persons at least 16 years old can drive these vehicles, they are only allowed to ride on bicycle paths.

The author is Greta Zulonaitė

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