AUSTIN, Texas — Whether someone's visiting for the weekend for a conference, commuting to work everyday, or not in the mood to pay or wait for an Uber, scooters have become a popular way for people to get around across Downtown Austin.
As the years have gone on, scooters have become a controversial topic among Austin residents and city leaders due to the injuries and traffic jams they can create.
Austin-area personal injury attorney Jon Selden says he's seen an influx in these cases. With population growth and Austin turning into a top visitor destination, he doesn't see the issue going anywhere anytime soon.
"It's an epidemic, it's happening all the time now," Selden said.
Selden says he even knows some other personal injury attorneys who are solely taking on these kinds of cases.
Since the scooters don't come with helmets, head injures have become a growing concern, with longtime impacts among riders. Selden says he has seen and knows of a wide range of injuries caused by the scooters.
"Yeah, I know a guy who's a quadriplegic because of a scooter accident. It's really, really terrible. He doesn't even remember the accident. He was in town on a conference, he just woke up in the hospital and couldn't move his arms or legs," Selden said.
He says dark roads, drinking alcohol, visitors not being familiar with the area or drivers not seeing the scooters have also been concerns.
Earlier this month, an audit revealed the city of Austin doesn't know how many people are getting hurt on e-scooters.
Some officials say there have been six deaths related to e-scooters since 2018, but other Austin officials estimate that number is much higher.