Comparison of motor vehicle-involved e-scooter and bicycle crashes using standardized crash typology

doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2021.03.005

Journal of Safety Research

Volume 77, June 2021, Pages 217-228

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2021.03.005 Get rights and content

Under a Creative Commons license

open access

Highlights

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We compare car-involved scooter crashes and bicycle crashes using standard typology.
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Scooter-crashes and bicycle-crashes share many common features.
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Most crashes occur at intersections or driveways.
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Most scooter and bicycle riders are local residents nearby home.
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Scooter riders are more often tourist.
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Most scooter crashes occur on the transition between the sidewalk and the roadway.

Abstract

Introduction: The market share of e-scooters in the United States has proliferated in cities: 86 million trips were made on shared e-scooters in 2019, a more than 100% increase compared to 2018. However, the interaction of e-scooters with other road users and infrastructure remains uncertain. Method: This study scrutinized 52 e-scooter and 79 bicycle police-reported crashes in Nashville, Tennessee, from April 2018 to April 2020 from the Tennessee Integrated Traffic Analysis Network (TITAN) database. We used descriptive analysis and a recent prototype version of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool (PBCAT) to classify crashes based on the locations of the crashes relative to roadway segments or intersections, as well as the maneuver of the motor vehicle and e-scooter/bicycle relative to the motor vehicle. Results: Two crash typologies can explain the majority of e-scooter crashes, while bicycle crashes are distributed over several crash typologies. Additionally, 1 in 10 e-scooter- and bicycle-motor vehicle crashes leads to the injury or fatality of the e-scooter rider or bicyclist. Furthermore, we noted statistically significant differences in spatial and temporal distribution, demographics, lighting conditions, and crash distance from home for e-scooter and bicycle crashes. Conclusions: The police crash report provides a comprehensive picture of e-scooter safety complementing existing literature. We found that e-scooter crash characteristics do not fully overlap with features of bicycle crashes. Practical Implications: A generalized engineering, education, and enforcement treatment to reduce and prevent e-scooter and bicycle crashes, injuries, and fatalities might not result in equal outcomes for each mode. More rigorous enforcement could be implemented to deter e-scooters riders under the age of 18 years and e-scooter safety campaigns could target female riders.

Keywords

e-scooter

Bicycle

PBCAT crash typology

Micromobility

Safety

Cited by (0)

Nitesh Shah is a doctoral student at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK). He is also a Graduate Advancement Training and Education (GATE) fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Some of his research interests include micro-mobility, travel behavior, sustainability, and a big data approach in transportation. He also did an internship at the New Urban Mobility Alliance (NUMO) hosted by the World Resource Institute (WRI) in the 2019 summer, working on different issues of tech disruption in mobility. He completed his MS in Transportation Engineering from UTK and Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from the Institute of Engineering, Nepal.

Sameer Aryal is a Civil Engineering PhD student at University of Tennessee- Knoxville. His primary research interests are pedestrians and bicycle safety and facility design and machine learning for big data. He received his master’s degree in Structural Engineering from University of Missouri Kansas City. He received his BS in Civil Engineering and later served as Assistant Lecturer for Civil Engineering at Himalaya College of Engineering, affiliated to Tribhuvan University in Nepal.

Yi Wen is a Ph.D. student majoring in transportation engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His main research agenda is to investigate the various impacts of emerging transportation options. Prior to his pursuit of a doctoral degree, he received his BS in Environmental Science from Beijing Normal University – Hong Kong Baptist University United International College in China and his Master's Degree in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dr. Christopher R. Cherry is a Professor at the University of Tennessee. Some of his research interests include bicycle and pedestrian safety and system design, the role of e-bikes on the transportation system. He leads the Light Electric Vehicle Education and Research (LEVER) Initiative, a consortium of universities and industry to explore the role of emerging and potentially disruptive classes of lightweight and low speed electric vehicles on transportation, sustainability, and health. He also chairs the TRB joint subcommittee on emerging vehicles for low speed transportation. Dr. Cherry received his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007.