Over the past year, companies have been rolling out electric scooters (踏板车) by the thousands in cities across the country from Milwaukee to Washington, D. C. to Lubbock, Texas. People download the app, find a nearby scooter and then just unlock and ride. But as these shared scooters have spread, so have concerns about safety.
Portland, Oregon in the middle of a four-month e-scooter pilot program. You see these scooters everywhere — parked on sidewalks (they don't require docking stations, which most shared bikes do), taking fast corners and going through traffic. But something you don't see much of helmets.
On a recent weekend, a 32-year-old woman who didn't want to give her name because she's breaking the city's helmet rule is riding for the first time with some of her friends. None of them are wearing helmets, which both the city and the scooter company require with good reason. “One of our friends almost just got run over. The brake lights on theirs don't work,” she says.
Part of the draw of these scooters is their flexibility — most riders we talked to jumped on a scooter on the spur of the moment. And, given the fact that most people would not want to share helmets with strangers they don't come with helmets attached. So people end up riding without any safety gear.
Yet this is against the rules, but many people just don’t want to carry around helmets. Data from bicycles suggest that people participating in share programs have lower rates of accidents than those using their own vehicle. And many transportation advocates point to the fact that helmet requirements deter bike usage.
Still helmets provide protection. Riding a scooter is very different from riding a bike.
And people on e-scooters are starting to show up in emergency rooms with injuries.” We've seen things from broken bones to punctured (刺穿) lungs.” says Catherine Juillard, a doctor at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.
【小题1】What does the 32-year-old woman want to convey?| A．Riding a scooter is difficult. | B．Riding a scooter is dangerous. |
| C．E-scooters are of poor quality. | D．E-scooters bring great convenience. |
| A．Because of high cost. | B．Because of people's habit. |
| C．Because they are not effective. | D．Because they are not necessary. |
| A．Limit. | B．Allow. | C．Decide. | D．Promote. |
| A．To Wear or Not to Wear helmets? | B．E-Scooters Do More Harm Than Good. |
| C．How to Reduce the Risk of E-Scooters? | D．With E-Scooters Come Safety Concerns. |
