Inline Skating Safety Statistics

Photo of author
Written By Anson

The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) is the government organization that analyzes injury data caused by sports. The CPSC gets its data by checking emergency room information from selected hospitals around the country, then estimates national figures.

Wrist injuries are reported to be the most common among inline skaters

There are many statistics from the CPSC about skating injuries and we present some of these below.  However, what is really useful is to compare the rate of skating injuries with injuries from other sports.  In 2001 the New York Times did exactly this type of analysis using the CPSC’s 1999 data.

The New York Times found the following rates of severe injuries (ie requiring hospitalization):

SportsInjury Rate per 1000 Participants
Basketball8.8
Soccer8.6
Softball8.0
Bicycling4.1
Inline Skating3.4
Tennis2.6
Golf1.2
Swimming0.7

As was shown, the rate of serious injury for inline skaters is less than half the rate for those playing active team sports such as basketball, soccer, and softball.  Moreover, the injury rate for skaters is less than for bicyclists.  Clearly, inline skating is not so dangerous as many people imagine.

Why is that? We can conjecture there are three reasons.  First, inline skating injuries that do occur are usually minor scrapes and “road rashes”.  Second, many inline skaters realize they are at some risk and wear proper protective gear.  Third, many skaters probably do start out with a lesson, which significantly increases stopping ability and thus injury rate.

What can inline skaters do to reduce the possibility of a significant injury? Take a lesson and wear full protective gear.  In fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that up to 1/3 of serious skating injuries could be eliminated by wearing wrist guards alone!  As will be seen in the statistics below, this is true not only for beginners but for intermediate and advanced skaters as well.

Other CPSC Statistics

1996 Percent of Total Injuries by Location
(alphabetized by body part)

Ankle6.7%Leg (lower)3.8 %
Arm (lower)13.5 %Leg (upper)1.1 %
Arm (upper)0.7 %Mouth1.2 %
Elbow7.6 %Neck0.8 %
Eyeball0,2 %Pubic Region0.8 %
Face7.1 %Shoulder4.2 %
Finger5.5 %Toe0.2 %
Foot1.0 %Torso (lower)5.1 %
Hand3.6 %Torso (upper)1.8 %
Head4.1 %Wrist24.2 %
Knee6.8 %Other0.5 %
Source: National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS)

Note: As can be seen from the above chart, wrist injuries are by far the most common skating injuries.  Wearing wrist guards prevents this because it allows the wrist to slide along the pavement rather than absorbing all the shock of a fall directly.

Characteristics of injured inline skaters

   Characteristic% of Sample
Ability Level
 Novice10
 Beginner34
 Intermediate37
 Expert18
Number of Times Inline Skating
 1 – 525
 6 – 1212
 13 – 9926
 > 10037
Reasons for Participation
 To get exercise75
 To play roller hockey37
 For transportation35
 To perform tricks (aggressive)31
Number of Lessons Taken
 050
 1 – 537
 > 611
Ownership of Skates
 Owned72
 Rented or borrowed28
Condition of Skates
 Good85
 Fair or poor14
The percentages are calculated for an estimated 6,331 persons treated in emergency departments nationally during the study period. They are based on data from 161 injured skaters, weighted according to the hospital in the NEISS sample in which they were treated. These values do not include subjects for whom the following were unknown ability level (1 percent of the total), number of lessons taken (2 percent), or condition of skates (1 percent).

Note: 55% of injured skaters in this survey classified themselves as Intermediate or Advanced.  Plus, 63% of the injured people could be classified as frequent skaters.  The myth that only beginners will fall and get hurt is only that – a myth.  Finally, note that only 48% of injured skaters had ever taken a lesson, even though stopping using the heel brake and falling properly using wrist guards are not natural motions.  Take a lesson!

Characteristics of Falls and Injuries sustained by inline skaters

   Characteristic% of Sample
Location of Fall
 Sidewalk or driveway26
 Street22
 Park or bike path19
 Indoors10
 Parking lot9
 Other14
Proximate Cause of Fall
 Spontaneous loss of balance41
 Striking a stationary hazard 140
 Striking a moving object 211
 Swerving to avoid hazard or collision4
 Other4
Special Factors Pertaining to Fall  3
 Hazardous Road Condition 
    Cited53
    Cited as key cause63
 Skating out of control 
    Cited25
    Cited as key cause67
 Poor visibility (twilight or darkness) 
    Cited17
    Cited as key cause6
 Fatigue 
    Cited11
    Cited as key cause37
Anatomical Site of Primary Injury 4
 Wrist32
 Lower leg (including ankle)13
 Face (or chin)12
 Elbow9
 Knee6
 Head5
 Other23
Type of Injury
 Wrist fracture25
 Face or chin laceration10
 Wrist sprain6
 Elbow fracture5
 Lower-leg fracture5
 Ankle sprain4
Severity of Injury
 Major51
 Minor49
Safety Gear Worn at Time of Injury
 Wrist guards33
 Elbow pads28
 Knee pads45
 Helmet20
 All of the above gear7
 No gear46
The percentages are calculated for an estimated 6,331 persons treated in emergency departments nationally during the study period. They are based on data from 161 injured skaters, weighted according to the hospital in the NEISS sample in which they were treated. These values do not include subjects for whom the following were unknown ability level (1 percent of the total), number of lessons taken (2 percent), or condition of skates (1 percent).

Footnotes:
1. The hazard was usually a defect or debris in the road.
2. Collisions usually occurred with another skater, and less than one percent involved a motor vehicle.
3. More than one response was allowed. Percentages given for key-cause citations are of those who cited the factor.
4. Thirteen percent of skaters had more than one injury.
5. Seventy-two percent of wrist injuries, 48 percent of elbow injuries, 38 percent of head injuries, and 34 percent of knee injuries were major. Six percent of patients with major injuries were admitted to the hospital.

Note: Perhaps most interesting in the above statistics is that most injuries occurred from a “spontaneous loss of balance” (we all know what that means) or “striking a stationary hazard” (tripping over something).  It is also interesting to note that while most skaters wear no gear, the most common kind of safety gear are knee pads, despite the fact that wrist injuries are much more common than knee injuries.

Anson
+ posts

My name is Anson Nakamura and I have been inline skating for fun for 18 years. My friends and I skate at our local skate park and we just love to skate. I have been a big fan of the sport since I was a little kid. I started with a pair of Rollerblades that I got from a garage sale. I was terrible at first, but I kept at it and eventually I got pretty good.  Now, I can do all sorts of tricks and I love skating more than ever.  There's nothing quite like the feeling of cruising around on your skates, wind in your hair.  f you've never tried skating, I urge you to give it a go. It's an incredible feeling and you might just get hooked like I did.

Leave a Comment