Electric Scooters in Chicago: Fun Trend or Dangerous Vehicle?

The personal injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C., represent people who are injured on Chicago streets — pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, passengers. In the last few years, we’ve seen a new and very predictable source of serious injury: electric scooters.

Let’s talk honestly about why e-scooters are so dangerous, who’s getting hurt, and why the City of Chicago needs to take this more seriously. (And if you’ve been injured in an e-scooter crash — as a rider or as a pedestrian struck by one — you should know your rights.)

Who’s actually riding these scooters?

Walk around Chicago and watch who’s on the stand-up rental scooters. It’s mostly teenagers and young adults.

Why that matters:

• Younger riders are more likely to treat scooters like toys, not 25-mph motorized vehicles.
• Many are inexperienced in traffic — weaving around cars, buses, and pedestrians with no training or protection.
• Riders under 18 often don’t even have a driver’s license, meaning they may not understand traffic laws at all.

Scooters are inherently unstable — and Chicago streets make that worse

People assume scooters are like bikes. They aren’t.

A bicycle has:Larger wheels

• A longer wheelbase
• A seat
• Two hands on handlebars

An electric scooter has:

• Very small hard wheels
• A narrow deck
• A very short wheelbase
• Your body weight pitched forward over the front wheel

That design is extremely unforgiving.

Hit a pothole, a manhole lip, or a train track groove, and the scooter can stop instantly while your body keeps going. Riders describe it as “the front wheel just disappeared,” and they go over the handlebars face-first.

Chicago’s streets are full of hazards that are annoying for cars but catastrophic for scooters:

• Potholes
• Utility cuts
• Uneven pavement
• Debris in bike lanes
• Steel plates and rail grooves

All it takes is one of those at 15–20 mph, and you’re on the ground in a split second.

Scooter riders are also at high risk of being hit by cars

In addition to being unstable, electric scooter riders are extremely vulnerable in traffic.

There are several reasons:

• Lack of visibility: Scooters are small, low to the ground, and hard for drivers to see — especially at night or in blind spots.
• Speed differential: Scooters move much slower than cars but faster than pedestrians, often confusing drivers who don’t expect a small moving vehicle in traffic lanes.
• Unpredictable riding behavior: Many young riders ignore stop signs and even traffic lights. They dart between cars, ride the wrong way down one-way streets, or make sudden turns without signaling.

These habits make them nearly invisible and unpredictable — a dangerous combination that increases the odds of being struck by a car. Chicago drivers already struggle to share the road with bikes; scooters, being smaller and less stable, fare even worse.

“I’ll just catch myself with my hands” — the classic scooter injury pattern

When riders go over the front, they instinctively put their hands out.

Common injuries we see and that trauma centers report:

• Broken wrists and hands
• Forearm fractures
• Shoulder injuries
• Facial fractures and dental trauma
• Concussions and brain injuries

Head injuries are especially serious. A fall from standing height can cause a concussion. A fall at scooter speed — basically head-first into the pavement — can cause brain bleeding.

And unlike cars, there’s no airbag. Unlike bikes, there’s usually no helmet.

Helmets: everyone knows they help — almost nobody wears one

Scooter companies will tell you in the app: “Wear a helmet.”

Here’s the reality:

• Almost nobody walking around River North carries a helmet “just in case.”
• Scooter rides are impulsive — you scan, unlock, and go.
• Tourists, teens, and commuters aren’t carrying helmets in backpacks.

So we have fast vehicles + no protection + Chicago pavement = predictable injuries.

Chicago’s biggest problem: we aren’t even counting the injuries

One of the most frustrating facts: Chicago does not keep centralized statistics on e-scooter injuries.

• The Chicago Department of Transportation has confirmed that the city doesn’t track scooter injuries.
• Scooter companies don’t release local crash data.
• Hospitals and ERs treat the victims, but the data isn’t compiled or shared.

Meanwhile, in Chicago’s own pilot program, officials estimated roughly 14–28 injuries per 100,000 trips. That’s not rare when you multiply it by millions of rides.

Cities like Denver, Austin, and Los Angeles are tracking injuries and debating stricter rules. Chicago isn’t — even as its ERs quietly fill up with injured riders.

• According to federal ER surveillance data, e-scooter injuries in the U.S. jumped from 8,566 in 2017 to 56,847 in 2022.” Home

• “The CPSC estimates ~87,400 e-scooter ER visits (2017–2023), with micromobility injuries up ~21% in 2022 alone.” U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission+1

• “City studies echo the spike: Los Angeles saw ~115 injuries per million trips; Austin logged 271 ER cases in 3 months with helmet use under 1%; Portland recorded 176 ER visits during its pilot.” UCLA+2Austin Texas+2

• “Medical centers report high rates of head trauma (~40%) and fractures (~32%), and very low helmet use among injured riders.” PMC

• “Chicago does not currently track e-scooter injury counts, so the local ER burden is under-reported.” Chicago Sun-Times

It’s not just riders getting hurt

Pedestrians are being hit too.

Chicago police data show increasing citations for scooter and e-bike riders on sidewalks. Pedestrians have been seriously injured by scooters operated illegally in pedestrian zones.

When that happens, liability gets complicated:

• Was the rider breaking the law?
• Did a defective scooter part contribute?
• Was poor street maintenance a factor?
• Did a motorist contribute?

These are exactly the kinds of cases Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. investigates.

Some cities decided: “Enough.” They banned scooters.

Several cities have suspended or banned shared e-scooter programs after serious crashes:

• Nashville, Tennessee banned shared scooters after a fatal crash involving a 26-year-old rider.
• San Francisco, California pulled all scooters off the streets after chaotic rollouts and sidewalk safety issues.
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin also banned scooter rentals after widespread safety complaints.

These cities acted not because scooters were inconvenient — but because people were getting badly hurt.

Electric scooters were introduced to Chicago faster than the city could regulate or monitor them.

Here’s what we see:

• Young, inexperienced riders ignoring traffic laws
• Small, unstable vehicles with low visibility
• No helmets, no protection, no training
• Dangerous city streets and untracked injury data

Until Chicago starts collecting real injury data — and acts on it — e-scooter riders and pedestrians remain at risk.

The personal injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. have experience represent. We investigate, identify all responsible parties, and fight for full compensation.

Call us today for a free consultation. We’ll help you understand your rights — and hold negligent parties accountable in a city that still isn’t keeping score.