MEMPHIS, TN : Bird scooter crashes causing an uptick in ER visits on Monday, 6th August 2018

Birds are the newest way to get around the Bluff City. Not the airborne kind, but the scooter kind.

Now, doctors are seeing an increase in injuries likely because of the scooters.

Bird scooters landed in Memphis. Since then the scooters can be found on nearly every corner in Midtown and Downtown.

"Fifteen miles an hour doesn't sound that fast until you bounce your head off something," Methodist University Hospital medical Director in Emergency Department Dr. Jeff Harris said.

Harris said it's tricky to track exactly how many Bird scooter accidents they've treated over the past several weeks.

"I've seen several injuries from the scooters," Harris said. "There's all ranges. A lot [of the injuries] are just cuts and bruises from falling. Most significantly head injuries from people not wearing a helmet."

Bird rules require all riders to wear a helmet when on the scooters, but not many people are abiding by that rule.

As Birds flock to other cities across the country, the company is ramping up its safety rhetoric. Last week, Bird created a Global Safety Advisory Board.

Bird says the board will focus on increasing the safety of people riding slow-speed electric scooters in a car-centric world and the importance of sharing the road.

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