Bike share systems have a surprisingly low fatality rate when compared to e-scooters.

"The death rate on shared e-scooters is now six times worse than the death rate for bike share systems."

"Even excluding the Cleveland death, the death rate on shared Lime and Bike e-scooters is roughly one per 10.75 million trips. There have been just two bike share deaths nationwide, making the death rate roughly one for every 61.5 million trips"

"scooters could change that equation by creating so much demand for safety that cities would be forced to heed the call. New York, for example, is wrestling with that very question right now, as Lime and Bird pursue legalization."

Thanks to Chip and Ryan P. for reading my message and reviewing the Austin report. Here are my responses first to Chip and then to Ryan.

To Chip:

Concerning the miles/month, keep in mind that the data are for share-scooters and share-bikes (B-Cycle) so the miles ridden don't include privately owned scooters and bikes. The report doesn't include bicycle utilization before the e-scooters but slide 15 does say that B-cycle utilization was down. But, on the contrary, an article, "Portland's E-Scooter Didn't Squelch Bike Share Use. In Fact, They Might Have Helped", https://www.wweek.com/news/2018/11/26/portlands-e-scooters-didnt-squelch-bike-share-use-in-fact-they-might-have-helped/ says year-over-year share-bike use increased 6% during a 4-month scooter pilot program.

The bicycle crash rate being 30 times greater than the scooter crash rate is an arithmetic computation from the data presented in the Austin study. Defining crash rate as the number of crashes / thousand miles ridden, for bicycles, it's 81 / 85 = 0.95 and for scooters, its, 37 / 1,190 = 0.03. Dividing the bicycle crash rate by the scooter crash rate: 0.95 / 0.03 = 32.

To Ryan:

Concerning severity threshold for reporting a crash, the footnote on slide 9 says the scooter injury data source is the Austin Emergency Medical Services. So I deduce that the severity threshold is that the crash was severe enough to involve emergency medical services.

Concerning your question, "does a crash per 1000miles on bicycle seem right?", IMHO for an experienced cyclist riding their own machine on typical roadways, this does seem high but the subjects or this study are people who might have little bicycling education and experience riding share bikes that might not fit properly and might not be in good operating condition on "facilities" that are less safe than roadways which might explain a higher crash rate.

Thanks for your rational and experienced base explanation for higher bicycle crash rates!

Frank

On Dec 12, 2018, at 12:02 PM, Ryan Post <rpostwvu@gmail.com> wrote:

I would expect there is a threshold for severity to a "crash" being reported. Falling down on a scooter is probably not going to be much worse than falling when walking, but falling on a bicycle is a little higher height and theres a frame between your legs. You can abandon a scooter mid-fall but not a bike. So even at a similar speed a bicycle is probably more likely to injure you more than a scooter this getting reported.

Thats just based in my crashing on scooters(20yrs ago) and unicycles vs bicycles.

My question is does a crash per 1000miles on bicycle seem right? I guess its denser urban riding, and likely less experienced riders?

Ryan

On Dec 12, 2018, at 11:51 AM, Chip Wamsley via Bikeboard <bikeboard@bikemorgantown.com> wrote:

Interesting numbers. Based on seven months usage, a single scooter would log 45miles/month and a single bike would log 10 miles/month. It would be interesting to see numbers before scooter introduction. I don't see where the 30 times crash rate for bicycles could possibly come from.

---- Original Message ----
From: "Drew Gatlin via Bikeboard" <bikeboard@bikemorgantown.com>
Sent: 12/11/2018 7:59:46 PM
To: "Frank Gmeindl" <fgmeindl@gmail.com>
Cc: "Bicycle Board" <bikeboard@bikemorgantown.com>
Subject: Re: [Bikeboard] Austin dockless report

Wow, these are amazing numbers Frank! Thanks for sharing.

On Tue, Dec 11, 2018 at 7:29 PM Frank Gmeindl via Bikeboard <bikeboard@bikemorgantown.com> wrote:

Here's an October 11, 2018 report from Austin, TX on their Dockless Mobility Program, http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=307564
Some interesting statistics from April - October:

Number of devices in service

Scooters: 3,750

Bicycles: 1,200

Miles ridden

Scooters: 1,190,900

Bicycles: 85,000

Number of crashes

Scooters: 37

Bicycles: 81

Computation: bicycles had 30 times higher crash rate than scooters.

None of the scooter crashes was fatal; 1 was life threatening; 16 had "significant signs and symptoms" and 14 were non-life threatening.

During the same time, Austin had

Pedestrians: 14 fatalities; 112 injuries

Motorcyclists: 5 fatalities; 128 injuries

Motor vehicles; 10 fatalities, 2,336 injuries

At least in Austin, scooters look like a pretty safe way to get around.

Frank

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--

J.D. Gatlin
Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
B58 Engineering Sciences Building
West Virginia University
Chair, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board
Morgantown, WV 26505

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