Inside Edition hit the streets to see how e-scooters are affecting New York City residents. An ER doctor tells Inside Edition about the kind of injuries he sees from scooter collisions.
Earlier this month, actress Lisa Banes, best known for playing Ben Affleck’s mother-in-law in the movie “Gone Girl,” was fatally struck by a scooter that allegedly ran a red light while she was crossing the street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Police say the suspect fled the scene and remains at large.
It’s the latest incident in an uptick of electric scooters causing chaos on the streets. And although they may be a cheap, quick and fun way to get around, critics say they’ve become a dangerous nuisance.
When we hit the streets, in a matter of minutes, we saw scooters blowing through red lights and bobbing and weaving in and out of traffic.
Susan Dresner, a resident of the Upper West Side, says she’s scared to walk down the street.
“I almost got killed twice,” Dresner said. “You have the electric bikes, you have scooters and they're going on the sidewalks now.”
“If they run into me, I’m a goner,” Dresner continued.
The injuries can be catastrophic, Dr. Daniel Murphy told Inside Edition.
“Ankle fractures, hip fractures, shoulders, the bone here — the humerus, skull fractures, we've had neck injuries,” said Murphy, who runs the emergency room at Saint Barnabas Hospital in New York. “Just drive around here and it is a free-for-all."
And it’s not just city streets — it’s happening all across the country, with some drivers riding their scooters down crowded highways.
There is now a call to raise the legal penalty for scooter drivers who hit pedestrians and flee the scene.
