Powered Scooter Special Study, 7/1/03-6/30/04

A new product, gaining in popularity, is the powered scooter. A noted increase in powered scooter-related emergency room-treated injuries prompted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to conduct a study to learn more about the types of powered scooters involved and how people are getting injured. A telephone investigation was conducted of all National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) emergency room-treated powered scooter injuries that occurred between 7/1/03 and 6/30/04. During this period, there were an estimated 13,185 emergency room-treated injuries reported for powered scooters. After reviewing the completed investigations, 10,015 of these injuries were determined to actually have involved powered scooters. Two-thirds of the injured persons were under 15 years of age and 59.3% were male. More of the scooters were reported to run on gasoline (55.3%) than off of a battery (37.3%). In preliminary estimates provided by Directorate for Economic Analysis staff, the 2003 annual sales of electric and gas powered scooters were approximately the same. Less than half of the victims were wearing helmets at the time of the accident (42.2%) and few were wearing additional safety equipment. Slightly less than half of the scooters were owned by the injured person (46.5%). The injury narratives were reviewed and hazard patterns were coded. The scooter directly contributed to the accident/injury in 19.6% of the injuries. Examples of scenarios included in this pattern are: brake failed to engage, victim was cut on a sharp edge, front wheel wobbling prior to the accident, handlebar came loose and detached, burned from touching a hot part of the gas powered scooter, etc. This is a high proportion of injuries in which something about the product contributed to the injury.