E-Scooters Riskier Than Motorbikes, Cause More Serious Injuries: UK Study

Electric scooter riders who sustain serious crashes show a higher proportion of traumatic brain, vascular and internal-organ injuries than injured motorcyclists or cyclists, according to a UK study. The findings have prompted calls for stronger safety measures, including compulsory helmets, rider training and improved vehicle design, particularly to protect women and children.

Researchers analysed records from the National Major Trauma Registry covering England and Wales between 2020 and 2022, alongside rental-operator incident data collected across 18 cities from 2020 to 2024. The two datasets covered 38,440 records in total, including 15,247 hospital trauma patients and 23,193 reported incidents from more than 33 million e-scooter journeys.

Among injured adults, e-scooter riders had 3.45 times the proportion of traumatic brain injuries recorded among motorcyclists and 1.74 times that of cyclists. Vascular trauma was 3.24 times more frequent than among motorcyclists, while internal-organ injuries were 1.46 times more common. However, fractures were less frequent among e-scooter riders than in the two comparison groups.

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The researchers said e-scooter design could contribute to the distinctive injury pattern. Small wheels may become trapped in potholes or destabilised by uneven surfaces, potentially throwing riders over the handlebars and causing head-first impacts. Helmet use was also uncommon, with only 5.9 per cent of e-scooter riders in the trauma registry documented as wearing one, compared with 75.7 per cent of motorcyclists.

Women had more than twice the odds of suffering a higher-severity injury compared with men after researchers adjusted for age, location and other factors. Children accounted for 16.2 per cent of e-scooter trauma cases, a larger share than among injured motorcyclists and cyclists. The findings indicate that vehicle dimensions, rider experience and limited protective equipment may require closer regulatory attention.

The study does not establish that every e-scooter journey is more dangerous than travelling by motorcycle or bicycle, because the trauma comparisons describe injury patterns among people already injured rather than risk per trip. Nevertheless, researchers said the findings support helmet requirements, standardised training, safer infrastructure and improved scooter design. Privately owned e-scooters remain prohibited on public roads, pavements and cycle lanes across most of the United Kingdom. 

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