– It came like lightning from clear skies. It was a terrible experience. Bjørg Kristin Rønning says this on the phone from Bekkestua in Bærum. Here she is visiting her son, but she herself lives in Trondheim. The accident happened when she walked on the sidewalk with her 6-year-old granddaughter on Wednesday. Suddenly she was hit from behind, and what hit her was an electric scooter with three young people standing in the back. – My grandson was only inches away from being maltreated. It was just luck that it happened to me, she says to news. Major injuries A man who saw what happened called an ambulance. Furthermore, the police were contacted, and for Rønning it was a trip to both the dentist and the hospital. Several teeth were displaced and were broken back. Now she has been put on a string, and in the future it must be root-filled and put on a crown. – Now it will be examined whether the nose is broken. In addition, I have pain in my ribs and am bruised. My summer is ruined, says Rønning. She says that the pain in the ribs only gets worse with each passing day. She also has trauma after the accident. – I have nightmares about what happened, she says, who, choking on tears, looks back on the accident. She describes that her granddaughter became hysterical, and very afraid of her grandmother. – I remember it as in a slow motion movie. I felt like I could not grit my teeth. And there was a lot of blood. Bjørg received several injuries, including in the mouth. Photo: Private A thought-provoking The accident on the sidewalk in Oslo, happened on the same day as the new rules for electric scooters came into force. As of 15 June, there is a blood alcohol limit of 0.2 and an age limit of 12 years. In addition, it is mandatory to use a helmet for children under 15 years. – I am so provoked by electric scooters. I have always been, says Rønning, who in the aftermath of the accident, posted a post on Facebook where she told about what had happened. She hopes this can be a food for thought. – Maybe people start thinking and that parents take a serious talk with their kids that it can get really wrong. This went wrong, but not really wrong – because they did not hit my grandson. She says that she has received many reactions after she posted the post. – And if everyone is talking to someone, then at least the discussion and talk has started to go. I wrote it not to get sympathy, but to start a conversation about how bad it can go. Want stricter rules Ann-Helen Hansen, communications consultant at Trygg Trafikk, believes that there is too little mapping of accident figures among cyclists and pedestrians in Norway, as they are based only on police-registered accidents. She adds that it is not a collision that is the main reason why electric kick cyclists end up in accidents. They are mostly associated with edges, tram rails and intoxication. – But there have been some ugly cases where pedestrians have been hit by an electric scooter. And these are accidents we would have liked to have avoided. She says that Trygg Trafikk is happy that a regulation has been put in place. They have been asking for this since the electric scooters came on the market. – These are vehicles with a high damage potential. There is a 5 to 7 times greater chance of injury compared to a normal bicycle or electric bicycle, says Hansen. At the same time, they have also called for even stricter regulation. They want a ban on driving on sidewalks, a lower age limit of 16 years and a mandatory helmet for everyone. – We believe that the protection of pedestrians exceeds the need for accessibility for those who ride electric scooters, Hansen says. Ann-Helen Hansen says that Trygg Trafikk is happy that a regulation has been put in place, but the organization has also called for stricter rules. Photo: Safe traffic Like Rønning, she believes that it is important for parents to talk to their children. – There was a ban on being more than one on an electric scooter last year. Nevertheless, this accident shows that not everyone has gone home, she says, and refers to another change in the regulations: Reclassification from “bicycle” to “small electric motor vehicle”. – It should signal a little about the responsibility behind driving such a vehicle. Have not understood the seriousness That there should be stricter rules, supported by Rønning. She also believes that the police need more out in the streets to keep up. – The rules that have come now do not take care of pedestrians at all. I think they are too weak, she says. The responsibility that lies in traveling in traffic, she does not think those who ride electric scooters are aware of. – This is a toy where they play with other people’s lives. I do not think they have understood. This is almost as serious as being hit by a car. And I do not think that will have enough consequences.
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Bjørg Kristin Rønning was hit by an electric scooter with three young people on it in Oslo – news Trøndelag
