A woman was rushed to the hospital in critical condition with multiple injuries early today, after she was involved in an accident involving a scooter, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Police say the woman in her twenties and her boyfriend were on a scooter on Broadway and Jones, which is just south of the Broadway I-35 intersection near the Pearl Complex, when the scooter hit a pot hole.
The male operator lost control and the scooter toppled over. The woman hit her head on the pavement.
She was reported to be in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive
.It's not known whether the scooter involved was one of those dockless electric scooters which several companies have begun operating downtown, but it does focus attention on the new form of transportation which is changing the way people get around downtown.
The dockless scooters, which are operated by several companies, allow people who use the scooter company app to simply pick one up anywhere on the street, ride them wherever they want, and then drop them off when they are done. They pay on their credit card through the app, a $1 undocking fee and 15 cents per minute.
The scooters have raised questions because of a complete lack of regulation by city government.
It is unclear, for example, whether the scooters are considered motorcycles or bicycles, whether they should be driven in bike lanes, on the main lanes of downtown streets, or on the sidewalk.
There is also concern about clutter on sidewalks as scooters are simply dumped outside of prominent attractions, like the Pearl.
City Council, which does not have a good track record of efficiently regulating 'disruptive' technologies, is expected to tackle the issue of scooters when it returns from its July break.