Police have urged the public to report dangerous e-scooter riders as doctors encounter an increasing number of injuries related to collisions across the UAE.
Pedestrians say they have safety concerns about e-scooters zipping across pavements and many are calling for stricter monitoring and implementation of the rules.
Police have levied fines against riders who flout regulations and doctors have told of attending to more than 10 accidents each month due to speeding e-scooters.
“Misusing scooters is one of the major challenges in terms of road safety, especially in populated areas,” Dubai Police told The National, urging residents to report dangerous behaviour on the Police Eye service on the official app or call 901.
Dubai Police said four e-scooter riders were killed between January and June this year, while 15,029 e-scooters were confiscated for breaching traffic rules in the first five months of 2025. The number of fatalities last year in Dubai totalled 10, with 259 injured in 254 accidents involving e-scooters and bicycles recorded.
Fines across the Emirates vary, with police in Dubai imposing a Dh300 penalty for e-scooters on roads with speed limits exceeding 60kph. Nshama, the management company in charge of the Town Square community in Dubai, warns that Dh1,050 fines can be imposed on e-scooter riders who break the rules.
In Ajman, police have banned e-scooters on streets. Abu Dhabi Police, too, have warned that riders are not permitted on pedestrian lanes or roads with speed limits of 60kph or higher.
E-scooter riders must wear helmets, reflective jackets, never carry passengers, attach lights on the front and rear of the scooters and not exceed the 20kph speed limit.
Accident victims speak out
Abu Dhabi resident Tala blacked out when she was hit by an e-scooter on her 10k morning Corniche run in February. The rider and pedestrians who helped lift her off the ground told her that she had lost consciousness.
“I don’t remember being hit,” said the US citizen who was prescribed painkillers by doctors. “All I can remember thinking is that he was going really fast, that he was in the walking lane as I tried to move to one side.”
“My elbow was bleeding, I had a massive bruise on my wrist, my ankle had tyre marks and was quite sore. I had a killer headache because I landed on my head.”
The bruises from the impact were evident for a few months. The rider offered to call an ambulance, but Tala decided to walk home.
“I realised later how serious it was. There was a blur, a streak of white across my left eye. I felt dizzy. Now I tell my running buddies that if they ever have this sort of incident, they should call an ambulance immediately. I stick to the edge when I’m running now.”
Dubai resident Slavica still feels the impact of a collision more than a year after a 10-year-old child on an e-scooter slammed into her as she walked in The Lakes – a quiet, leafy community. The Serbian citizen has required physiotherapy since February 2024, medication and injections to dull the pain from multiple injuries to her shoulder, neck, lower back, hip, knee and foot.
“The child came out of nowhere,” she said. “The scooter hit me with full force on my right side. I was in bed for many months last year. I took painkillers, went to bed and the next day I woke up in horrific pain. I needed to go to hospital and then started my journey of recovery. I’ve been in physiotherapy non-stop.”
When Slavica approached the police, they recommended she file a complaint that she decided against. The young rider apologised to her recently but the accident has left a mark and she constantly worries about others getting hit by speeding riders.
“My intention was not to take parents or a child to court,” she said. “I just want parents to know that they must talk to their children. These e-scooters must be driven responsibly. If you give it to a 10-year-old, they cannot control the speed.”
Doctors warn of ‘menace’
Even though the rules stipulate that no one under the age of 16 can ride an e-scooter, it is not uncommon for young children to be involved in e-scooter accidents, doctors said.
“Paediatric and adolescent categories are more common because children tend to be more reckless and lose control,” said Dr Chidananda Shivashankar, specialist orthopaedic surgeon at Zulekha Hospital Sharjah.
“We see wrist, ankle, shoulder injuries in kids. In adults, it can be more severe, could extend to fractures, requiring plaster and even surgery depending on the speed with which pedestrians get hit. It has become a menace inside communities and on major roads.”
The Sharjah hospital treats around 15 to 20 people with e-scooter injuries every month. “The frequency is increasing because, a couple of years ago, we saw three to four cases a month,” Dr Shivashankar said. “Recovery can take from weeks to several months.”
Medeor Hospital in Abu Dhabi treats three to four injuries every month from e-scooter accidents. Typically, patients are first taken to public hospitals and later seek treatment in private hospitals.
“People come in days after they are hit because many injured people go back to the office and come to us when the pain is aggravated, when they develop swelling in the leg or knee joint,” said Dr Suresh Vadakkoot, head of the orthopaedics department.
“Muscle, ligament and soft tissue injuries are common, 99 per cent are lower limb injuries. Healing takes long because when people fall on their back, the nerve in the spinal cord can get pinched.”
Residents call for action
Residents say rules are ignored despite signs across communities detailing regulations and specifying paths where e-scooters and e-cycles are barred.
Restrictions were announced last year on Jumeirah Beach Residence plaza, ground levels of The Walk and designated zones around Dubai Marina Mall.
Valeria Krynetskaya and more than 100 residents appealed last month for improved safety measures in Dubai’s Springs neighbourhood after reports of e-scooters colliding with the elderly, a pregnant woman, and killing a cat.
“Even though it's just a scooter, we are talking about electrical vehicles driving as fast as cars in residential pedestrian areas, this is nonsense,” said the Danish sustainability consultant.
“They drive very fast with no lights. We have nothing against alternative means of transportation, but it needs to be responsible.”
Micro mobility a saviour
Teenagers, retail and restaurant workers who safely ride e-scooters to school and work have grown to depend on them for short trips.
“I love my e-scooter, love the convenience,” said Shanessa, a teenager whose travel time was cut to a few minutes to reach school on the boundary of a gated Dubai community. “I set it to the lowest speed and I’m careful. I wait for cars to pass.”
Mary Garcia, a Filipino cashier in a restaurant in Karama, Dubai, said she no longer depended on shared van transport after the RTA allowed carrying folded e-scooters on the Dubai Metro last year.
“Many people like us can’t afford cars,” she said. “This is great for me to take the Metro and hop on the scooter. With this I don’t have to wait for transport. People need to know how to be safe and take care of other people's safety.”
Experts call for separate paths
Dr Khaled Alawadi, associate professor of sustainable urbanism at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, recommends regulating e-scooter sales so that they are sold only to adults with clear safety instructions and penalty warnings.
“There must be stricter monitoring” he said. “We have policies and regulations in place, but people don’t seem to listen or abide by the rules.”
He recommends installing dedicated paths for cycling and e-scooters, separate from pedestrian pathways, when new developments are built.
The conflict between pedestrians and e-scooters is not unique to the UAE. Prague will outlaw e-scooter rentals from January. Paris has already banned rentals. Madrid does not permit e-scooters on the public transport network and Finland has barred under-15s from using them.
“We have exactly the same problems in Sydney as you're having in the UAE,” said Sara Stace, an urban strategist and director of cities at Vivendi Consulting Australia, which also recommends building dedicated paths.
“A lot of people who would never consider riding a bike, would consider hopping on an e-scooter. The main thing is to make sure they’re not mixing with people walking, and they're not mixing with motor vehicles travelling fast.”
Additional reporting by Alexander Christou.
