Surveillance cameras captured an e-scooter rider being thrown into the air after colliding with a car near 25th and Greenfield in Milwaukee shortly before 8 a.m. Sept. 18. Police said the rider, an 18-year-old, suffered non-fatal injuries. The footage is adding to scrutiny of scooter safety as officials consider the program's rules and enforcement.
Video Shows Dramatic Impact
The footage, published Friday by CBS58, shows the rider colliding with a car near 25th and Greenfield before tumbling through the air. CBS58 reported that the crash happened shortly before 8 a.m. on Sept. 18 and involved an 18-year-old rider; police described the injuries as non-fatal.
The crash follows other recent scooter-related incidents that have drawn attention from Milwaukee officials. In one case, Dave Wolz, owner of LaCage NiteClub, was struck by an electric scooter and taken to Froedtert Hospital with two broken bones in his foot, three broken ribs and fractures in his spine, according to wisn.com. Prosecutors charged 20-year-old Jonpierre Cherry with second-degree reckless injury in that case, and he remained in jail, according to the same report.
Alderman Pushes for Safety Review
From Pilot Studies to a Permanent Program
City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works records show that the city conducted three dockless scooter pilot studies—in 2019, 2021 and 2022-2023—before launching a permanent program in 2024. The timeline documents how Milwaukee tested scooter operations before making the program permanent, although the cited city summary does not provide a rule-by-rule comparison of the pilots. The program's use has since reached a much larger scale. According to Wisconsin Public Radio reporting published by Urban Milwaukee, Lime scooters recorded 1.2 million trips in Milwaukee in the prior year, while the city received 266 scooter-program complaints; 16% involved sidewalk riding.
Bauman told wisn.com that sidewalk riding has been a persistent problem since scooters came to Milwaukee. He said he plans to introduce a Common Council file reviewing safety protocols in the scooter program and to seek additional downtown speed restrictions in his district.
Wisn.com's account also described two scooters riding north on I-43 and exiting at the Keefe Exit after 11 p.m. one Thursday, though it is unclear whether that episode is connected to the crashes involving Wolz or the rider seen tumbling through the air in the CBS58 footage. Separately, the station's report noted surveillance video showing a man on an electric scooter hit a pedestrian on the sidewalk near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and State Street.
A History of Serious Scooter Injuries
Milwaukee's scooter troubles are not new. Back in 2019, rider Solana Patterson-Ramos suffered breaks in several parts of her legs after her electric scooter hit a small divot on Water Street near Wisconsin Avenue, according to tmj4.com. She spent six days at St. Mary's Hospital recovering, and told the outlet that the knee surgery that followed came with a $70,000 price tag.
Police described the injuries in the Sept. 18 crash as non-fatal. No citation or charge tied to that specific collision has been made public. As Bauman's proposed review moves toward the Common Council, the footage provides a fresh focus for a city weighing how fast, and how safely, scooters should be allowed to travel.
