E-scooter collisions kill 12 as incidents soar in the UK

Deaths trebled in the year to June 2022, compared with just four the year previously

Dott and Tier e-scooters in London. Getty Images

The number of people in the UK killed and injured in accidents involving e-scooters has soared in the past year.

Deaths trebled to 12 in the year to June 2022, compared with just four the year previously. Eleven of the people who died in the year to June were riders, while one was a pedestrian.

The number of casualties as a result of accidents involving e-scooters also rocketed, up to 1,437 in the year to June 2022, compared with 1,033 in the same period a year previously.

Of those, police estimate that 429 people were seriously injured and 996 were slightly injured.

That compares with 288 and 741 respectively in the year ending June 2021.

“The three most common type of injuries sustained in collisions involving e-scooters [to the e-scooter users or others] are all of slight severity,” according to a government factsheet on accidents involving e-scooters.

“However, the fourth, fifth and sixth most common type of injuries are different types of fractures and head injures, which are considered as serious injuries.”

Most accidents occurred in the afternoon and early evening, according to government data.

Injuries occurred across all age groups, from children up to the age of nine, who were involved in 36 accidents in the year to June 2022, up to adults age 70 and over, who were involved in 29 accidents involving e-scooters in the year to June 2022.

Almost a third of all e-scooter collisions recorded in the period occurred in London.

E-scooter accidents - in pictures

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  Col Juma bin Suwaidan, acting head of Dubai Police's traffic department, speaks at an e-scooter safety campaign event. Pawan Singh / The National

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  An e-scooter rider heads into oncoming traffic on Hamdan Steet, central Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

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  A rider on a seated e-scooter crosses Abu Dhabi's Hamdan Street in 2021. Riders are required by law to wear a helmet, and since this photo was taken, seated scooters have been banned. Victor Besa / The National

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  Dr Raghavendra Siddappa, an orthopaedic specialist with Pinky Caballero, who suffered severe injuries to her arm after she fell from an e-scooter. Photo supplied

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  A metal pin was inserted into the elbow of nurse Pinky Cabellero who required emergency surgery to prevent her left arm being amputated. Photo: Aster Hospitals

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  A CT scan of the displaced elbow fracture suffered by Pinky Caballero after falling from her e-scooter on the way home from hospital. Photo: Aster Hospitals

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  Nurse Pinky Caballero suffered multiple fractures in her elbow after falling from her e-scooter. Photo: Aster Hospitals

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  An X-ray of nurse Pinky Caballero's displaced and broken left humerus. Photo: Aster Hospitals

It is illegal to use a privately owned e-scooter on public roads, pavements and cycle lanes in the UK.

The government is currently running a trial in 30 areas involving rental e-scooters.

Accidents have occurred in some of those areas using rental e-scooters, according to the factsheet.

In Merseyside, for example, there were 27 collisions involving private e-scooters and 32 involving rental scooters.

The government said: “While it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions from the data reported at present, we will continue to issue guidance to police forces to attempt to capture more robust data on casualties within trial areas where possible.”

Other countries have moved to regulate the use of e-scooters, including Dubai, where they have been permitted in 10 districts and cycling tracks after a trial.

Two thousand vehicles, operated by four companies, are available for rent in areas identified as most likely to benefit from greater access to e-scooters.