Family of man killed in e-scooter crash call for mandatory helmets
"I think about him all the time – we spent every day with each other, literally, we were inseparable. He was my best friend."
Those are the words of Chante Hoosang after her boyfriend Shakur Pinnock died after being critically injured when his e-scooter collided with a car.
Shakur, aged 20, died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on June 18 this year – six days after the collision on Prestwood Road, Wolverhampton.
The collision also seriously injured Chante Hoosang who, speaking to the BBC, said she will have arthritis and will not get the "full bend" in her leg back.
It came as her family – and the family of Shakur Pinnock – made calls for it to become mandatory for e-scooter riders to wear a helmet when using one.
Chante, who suffered a string of injuries including to her spleen, liver, knee and lungs, said: "The last thing I remember is us [her and Shakur] walking out the door, ready to leave, getting on the scooter and that was it. And then the next thing I remember is waking up in hospital.
"The nurses took my hospital bed to go and be next to his hospital bed and that's when he was just all wired up – he was not awake, or conscious, or anything, and I was just holding his hand [and] just speaking to him.
"They basically said it was not looking good and he has a couple days and there's not a lot they can do for him. I just never ever thought that would happen – I never thought I would hear that.
"It's only now that I know all this stuff about e-scooters that I didn't know before, like his e-scooter he just ordered it online – like you can just order it and will come. The helmet could've saved his life."
She told the BBC that if Shakur was still alive he would "just make it all ok, but he isn't here to give me a hug and say it's going to be ok".
It comes after Shakur's mother Celine Fraser-Pinnock, from Wolverhampton, made a plea earlier this year for there to be better regulation of e-scooters and for it to become law for riders to wear helmets.
"I do think e-scooter riders should be wearing helmets, most definitely,” she said at the time. “I’ve seen people without them and it’s like driving without your seatbelt on – it should be mandatory, something should be put in place.
"I think it should start with the retailers, something should be put in place before somebody purchases the e-scooter. You have to go to the source and put it in place.
"They should be made aware that the e-scooter is only made for a single person as well – it’s harder to manoeuvre with two people on – and there should be a strict rule in place."
She had also called for all car drivers to take a hazard perception test to help prevent further accidents. Anyone who has qualified since 2002 will have taken one before their practical driving test but older drivers did not have to take the virtual exam.
She added: “When I did my test I never did a hazard perception test, but this should be mandatory – even once a year, people get a refresher course online – because a lot of the time a lot of accidents are happening because people forget about the different hazards.”
