E-Scooter Safety Becomes Focus As Denver Moves Them To The Streets

DENVER (CBS4) - Concerned about safety for riders and others, Denver's City Council changed the rules on electric scooters. The council voted to keep them off city sidewalks, meaning riders must use bike lanes or streets.

Since the scooters have become popular across the city, many people have been injured on the newest mode of transportation.

"You don't think it will happen to you, then it does," explained Cori McCollough, who was injured while riding a scooter.

McCollough said a few months ago, she decided to ride a scooter home after yoga class.

"I had just left and had been on the scooter for maybe a minute when I hit a little crack with the side of the wheel," she explained. "And that put my face into the curb."

McCollough said she was riding in a bike lane, and tried to move out of the way for a cyclist when she crashed. Her friend immediately took her to the hospital.

"I broke my tooth in half, I broke my wrist and I broke my skull right here," she showed CBS4's Makenzie O'Keefe.

The bruising around McCoullough's eyes took more than a month to heal. When asked if this accident changed her thoughts about scooters, she said absolutely.

"I used to use them a lot, but now I don't ride them anymore," she said.

As Denver has changed its e-scooter rules, Lyft is also working to help keep riders safe. In a demonstration on Tuesday, they reminded people to ride slow, wear a helmet and now, find a route on the street that is safe.

"Is there another neighboring street that will get you where you need to go that maybe has a lower speed limit?" explained Patrick Quintana, Lyft Market Manager for scooters. "Always use the bike lane if possible. But if not, find those lower speed limit streets and see if you can use those to navigate your way."

McCollough's advice is similar, and that's to ride slow, and sparingly.

"Every time I see someone riding now, I cringe and I tense up a little bit because I don't want them to hurt themselves like I did myself," she said.