Scootering safely
E-scooters are now a frequent sight in our cities and proving to be a popular form of transport. The advantages are easy to identify: they are cheap, fun, easy to use, readily available, and electrically powered so reduce use of fossil fuels. But they also come with health risks which a team of Nursing students have investigated.
One risk is of course injury to the scooter rider, for example if they fall off after failing to negotiate a kerb or obstacle. They are not well-lit so the risk of being hit by a motor vehicle is higher at night. There is also the risk to pedestrians because of the e-scooters' speed and silence. Even a stationary scooter is a hazard for visually impaired pedestrians. The students also identified a risk associated with poor hand hygiene - harmful bacteria and viruses may be spread from one person to another on the handlebars. The students recommend that e-scooter users wash their hands afterwards.
The students developed an article and a digital image to promote safe behaviours amongst e-scooter users. They also wrote to Lime recommending that hand-hygiene be included in the popup safety advice in the app. They also suggested that the juicers clean the handlebars when they are charging the e-scooters.