Traumatic brain injuries, severe dislocations, and broken bones are some of the injuries Graeme Maw has seen come through the Townsville University Hospital from electric scooter e-scooter accidents.
Emergency medicine doctor Dr Maw says staff would support the ban on the two-wheeled devices, as new research shows half of the riders are making potentially life-threatening decisions on Queensland roads.
He said that approximately one person per day was presenting to the hospital with injuries ranging from skin abrasions to significant head trauma.
There are lots of soft tissue injuries, extensive grazing and abrasions. There are lots of lacerations that require suturing up, according to Dr Maw.
One young man came off a scooter after he had drank. He came in deeply unconscious and was sent to intensive care. He went from being a functioning member of society with a job to spending months and months in hospital and rehabilitation. Since the ride-sharing devices arrived in the city in 2020, the Townsville University Hospital has collected data on the frequency of e-scooter accidents.
Dr Maw said that about 50 percent of patients presenting to emergency were not wearing a helmet, and more than 75 percent were under the influence of alcohol when an incident occurred.
The data showed that 70 per cent of patients presenting to the hospital with e-scooter injuries were male, with the majority in the 18-30 age group.
The true extent of cases was under-reported, said Dr Maw.
It's not just the people riding the scooters. He said that a number of innocent people had knocked over.
Most people who come off an e-scooter end up going to the emergency department.
Calls for help becoming'more frequent' are more frequent'.
The Senior Operations Supervisor Wayne Paxton, from the Townsville district, said he was responding to an e-scooter crash at least once or twice a week.
It's starting to become more frequent over the weeks and weekends, Paxton said.
Mr Paxton said more regional Queenslanders were choosing the cost-effective mode of transport because of the rising cost of fuel.
He said that their popularity would likely continue to rise, but warned riders to be aware of the risks.
He said that he's been to accidents where the helmet has been on but they haven't done the strap up, and it has come off during the fall.
Safety is not taken seriously and is not taken seriously.
With more regional Queensland cities such as Bundaberg, Rockhampton and Mackay taking part in the e-scooter rollout, half of the riders admitted to reckless driving behaviour, according to a recent survey by the state's peak motoring body.
Andrew Kirk, principal technical researcher at the RACQ, said a crackdown on non-compliant e-scooter users was needed to improve safety, as well as a stronger education campaign.
Nearly one in 10 riders have been injured, and over half of them have been injured, he said.
It's down to lack of safety equipment, going too fast and riding in the wrong areas. Kirk said RACQ had been in talks with e-scooter rental companies to incorporate new technologies, such as onboard cameras, to improve user safety, and did not want to see them pulled from the streets.
He said that it's getting cars off the road, so it's reducing vehicle emissions and reducing traffic congestion.
Most bike riders have adapted to the fact that they have to have a helmet on, but for e-scooters we just need to change that mentality to get people to do the right thing.