A groundbreaking study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) has shed light on the world of electric scooters. The study, initiated in September 2019, marked the first large-scale naturalistic driving study focused on e-scooter riders. Equipped with advanced research equipment, including forward-facing cameras, 50 scooters collected an impressive 9,000 miles of data from over 200,000 rides on Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus over a span of 18 months. Although the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily halted the study, the scooters were re-deployed in August 2021 for the remainder of the academic year. Elizabeth White, the programs and business manager for VTTI, expressed her excitement about the research program and emphasized the invaluable collaboration with various departments on campus that ensured a safe deployment. Recently published in the Journal of Safety Research, the study’s results have provided remarkable insights into the safety risks associated with e-scooters in relation to behavioral, infrastructure, and environmental factors.
Identifying the Main Contributors to Safety Risks
Utilizing VTTI’s proprietary data acquisition system (DAS), the research team discovered that multiple factors contributed to safety risks for e-scooter users. Notably, infrastructure-related factors, the behaviors of e-scooter riders and others sharing the road, and environmental factors all played significant roles. The study revealed that loss of control due to infrastructure-related issues accounted for the largest proportion, 47%, of all crash- and near-crash events. In fact, a staggering 67% of incidents were attributed to infrastructure, followed by the presence of other road users at 19%, and rider behavior at 14%. The riskiest situations were transitions from one type of surface to another, such as moving from gravel or dirt to grass. Riders in these scenarios were nearly 60 times more likely to experience a crash or near-crash event. Furthermore, the data demonstrated that riding off a designated path, or off-road, increased the likelihood of such issues by almost 25 times compared to those who rode on shared-use paths. Surprisingly, the study did not capture any crashes between e-scooters and moving vehicles. Conflicts with other road users were found to be more avoidable through evasive maneuvers, suggesting that misjudgment of terrain or infrastructure, or a lack of skill in navigating obstacles, may be the primary causes.
Implications and Recommendations for Enhanced Safety
VTTI’s pioneering data acquisition system, which has been utilized since the 1990s to examine driver behaviors, enabled the collection and analysis of valuable safety data for this e-scooter study. To prioritize rider privacy, the devices only recorded riding behavior and did not film the riders themselves. It is worth noting that the study was limited to the Blacksburg campus. In light of the study’s findings, the research team recommends implementing an educational outreach program to raise awareness among all riders about the significant risks associated with infrastructure, behavior, and environmental factors. Meanwhile, VTTI and its partners will continue to explore strategies to enhance safety not only on the Virginia Tech campus but also in other locations. Elizabeth White expressed ongoing discussions with campus stakeholders to determine the future of micromobility at Virginia Tech.
In summary, the historic electric scooter study conducted by VTTI has unveiled crucial insights into the safety risks associated with e-scooters. By analyzing a vast amount of data collected over 18 months, the study identified infrastructure-related issues as the primary contributor to crashes and near-crash events. The research team’s recommendations for educational outreach programs and ongoing efforts to improve safety demonstrate a commitment to ensuring the well-being of e-scooter riders. As the world of micromobility continues to evolve, studies like this serve as essential tools for enhancing safety standards and promoting responsible e-scooter usage.
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