Electric scooters may be more dangerous to ride than motorbikes or bicycles, according to new research reported by The Guardian. The analysis found that e-scooter riders were much more likely to suffer serious head injuries, damage to blood vessels, and harm to internal organs than people riding motorbikes.
The study, carried out by David Bodansky, a hand, trauma and orthopaedic surgeon at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, looked at crash data from the national major trauma registry across 18 cities in England and Wales between 2020 and 2022. As The Guardian explained, e-scooter riders were over three times more likely to suffer a brain injury or blood vessel damage than motorbike riders, and one and a half times more likely to injure their internal organs. However, their chances of breaking a bone were lower than for cyclists or motorbike riders.
Bodansky suggested that the design of e-scooters could be to blame. Their small wheels can easily get stuck in potholes, sending riders flying over the handlebars and landing on their heads. The Guardian also reported that fewer than 6% of e-scooter riders said they wore a helmet at the time of their crash.
The figures also showed that women were involved in about a third more collisions than men and were over twice as likely to report serious injuries. Experts believe this may be partly because handlebars are usually built at a height suited to men, leading to more chest injuries among women. Children were not spared either, making up 16% of all e-scooter injuries.
Although e-scooters cannot legally be ridden on public roads, pavements or cycle lanes in most of the UK, police have seized thousands from riders breaking the rules. Experts are now calling for mandatory safety training, compulsory helmets and better-designed scooters, especially to protect women and young riders.
