Why E-Scooters Are on the Rise, Along With Injuries

It’s been less than two years since the first crop of stand-up electric scooters for rent were dumped on a city sidewalk, but they can now be found around the world. Startups including Bird, Lime, Skip and Spin allow riders to locate and unlock scooters with an app. When they reach their destination, they just walk away -- or hop into a train or taxi to continue the trip. Some urban planners consider shared scooters, along with shared bike services, the future of city transport. But after several fatal accidents and many more injuries involving e-scooters some officials, drivers and pedestrians see the fledgling mode of transport as a safety hazard that must be stopped.

Cars often aren’t the quickest way to travel in dense, urban areas. Many cities looked to bicycle-sharing services and bike lanes as a better option for shorter trips and as a way to reduce carbon emissions. Electric scooters, which can cost less than $2 per ride, are an offshoot of that. Investors looking for the next Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., the app-based car-hailing services, are adding to scooter mania by pouring money into the startups, touching off a city-by-city race to become the premier scooter brand. Not to be left behind, even Uber and Lyft are launching competing scooter businesses.