E-scooter riders face a significantly higher risk of traumatic brain and internal injuries than motorcyclists or bicyclists, according to a new report that sounds the alarm in scooter-dense cities such as Tel Aviv.

As Israeli municipalities push to promote micromobility and curb urban traffic, the British study, recently published in Scientific Reports, shows that riders of electric scooters are three times more likely to sustain a traumatic brain injury compared to motorcyclists, and have an increased risk of organ trauma and damage to major blood vessels.

While the study shows that e-scooter riders experienced a 20 percent lower risk of bone fractures than motorcyclists and a 10% lower risk than cyclists, the physical momentum of an e-scooter collision impacts the rider’s soft tissues, internal organs, and the skull.

The research also revealed that in 23,000 self-reported collisions and near-misses, female riders were more than twice as likely to have severe injuries following a crash than male riders, despite men recording higher overall risk-taking behaviors.

“This was one of the most surprising findings of this study,” said Dr. Raquel C. Gardner, a clinical director in neurology research at Sheba Medical Center.

She said the finding is “doubly concerning.”

Women not only appear to be at higher risk of traumatic brain injuries when riding e-scooters, she said, but there is also growing published evidence that women “may have a greater burden of persistent post-concussive symptoms following mild traumatic brain injuries as compared to men, and overall worse functional outcomes following traumatic brain injuries as compared to men.”

According to a 2022 Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center study, there are between 100,000 and 150,000 electric scooters in Israel. Between 2014 and 2019, accidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters were responsible for more than 10% of the hospital’s admissions for dental and maxillofacial injuries — a figure mirrored nationwide.

In 2019 and 2020, the hospital treated 320 e-bike and........

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