BTSCRP-10: E-scooter Safety: Issues and Solutions

Overview

Sponsored by the Behavioral Traffic Safety Cooperative Research Program (BTSCRP), this project advances multimodal road safety by exploring emerging safety risks due to the growing use of e-scooters across the country, and developing evidence-based guidance, tools, policy options, and educational materials to mitigate those risks.

The comprehensive study used multiple methods of data collection and analysis, including a literature review, survey, interviews, and field sites to inform e-scooter:

  1. current state of use, context, and related safety issues;
  2. injury information, including circumstances, severity, and comparison of injury trends to other modes;
  3. existing safety management practices and those that may be of interest or are being considered; and,
  4. additional research needs.

A Final Report* offers insights into e-scooter safety, injuries, and crash context, as well as e-scooter safety management practices. It also offers community case studies informed by five cities and recommendations for future research. It presents all research activities and findings from a literature review, practitioner survey, field data collection, and agency interviews.

A Toolbox* translates research documented in the Final Report to evidence-based guidance to help state and local agencies implement e-scooter practices to improve safety and use data tools and methods for safety evaluation. The Toolbox includes resources such as a fact sheet and checklist to integrate into plans, programs, and policies.

A Project Overview Presentation* highlights research findings and key takeaways, documented across the Final Report and Toolbox.

An Implementation Guide* offers ideas on how to use and communicate project findings documented in the Final Report and Toolbox. It offers clear steps and sample content to explain the research products associated with the project for specific audience groups.

* The BTSCRP-10 Final Report and other deliverables, submitted in February 2023, are under currently final review by the sponsor. Please contact the project PI, Dr. Laura Sandt (sandt@hsrc.unc.edu), directly if you have any questions prior to publication.

Project Team Details

  • UNC Highway Safety Research Center (UNC HSRC)
  • UNC-CH’s Department of City and Regional Planning (DCRP)
  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK)
  • Populus
  • Rebecca Sanders of Safe Streets Research & Consulting
  • Charles T. Brown of Equitable Cities

Project Status

The Final Report and other deliverables were submitted in February 2023.

Please contact the project PI, Dr. Laura Sandt (sandt@hsrc.unc.edu), directly if you have any questions prior to publication.

Links