The number of fatalities and injuries in e-scooter accidents increased in 2023. Experts see a risk in using them. Age and location in particular are important factors in the accidents.
Wiesbaden – The number of deaths in e-scooter accidents doubled last year. 22 people died on Germany’s roads, compared to eleven deaths in 2022. This was announced by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden. In total, the police registered 9,425 e-scooter accidents in Germany in 2023 in which people were injured. That was 14.1 percent more than in the previous year (8,260 accidents).
More and more traumatic brain injuries
In 2023, 1,220 people were seriously injured and 8,911 slightly injured. The vast majority (83 percent) of those injured were riding e-scooters themselves, including 21 of the 22 fatalities.
“We are increasingly seeing severe traumatic brain injuries,” said Christopher Spering, senior physician at the Clinic for Trauma Surgery and Orthopaedics at the University Medical Center Göttingen. This could be related to the use of the scooters, he said. The devices are often driven in the evenings and while under the influence of alcohol – “this is of course a combination that leads to more serious injuries, because the ability to react is of course significantly slower.”
Driver misconduct is often the cause of accidents
This view is consistent with the statisticians’ data: The Federal Office cited incorrect use of the road or sidewalks as the most common reason for the incidents. E-scooter users must use cycle paths or protective lanes where available. Otherwise, they should use the road or shoulder; riding on sidewalks is prohibited.
Driving under the influence of alcohol was almost as common a reason for the accident, according to the Federal Office. The third most common cause of accidents was that many of the drivers were driving too fast, followed by failure to give way.
A big city problem
Young people and big cities: These are two of the factors that play a major role in accidents involving e-scooters. According to the figures, around 42 percent of the e-scooter riders who had accidents last year were younger than 25 years old. Around 80 percent of the accident victims were younger than 45 years old.
According to statisticians, a particularly high number of accidents occur in large cities – around 60 percent of all e-scooter incidents were registered in cities with at least 100,000 inhabitants. More than a third of e-scooter accidents involving personal injury occurred in cities with at least half a million inhabitants. In the case of accidents involving pedelecs, however, this proportion was significantly lower at 12.3 percent and for bicycles without motors at 26.3 percent.
Doctor: At 14 you are not mature yet
According to trauma surgeon Spering, there is already a problem with the licensing of drivers from the age of 14. Young people who are still up to four years away from getting a driver’s license are often unable to take the perspective of car or truck drivers. “That means they are much less able to judge how you should behave so that drivers even notice or see you. And that is a big challenge,” he told the German Press Agency.
The scooters are a source of danger in themselves. “The wheels are extremely small, we have long handlebars, but they are relatively narrow in width. And on top of that, I can’t indicate changes in direction very well because driving one-handed is extremely dangerous,” said Spering.
A lack of helmets is also a problem: rental e-scooters do not have “helmets attached to the handlebars, and I rarely wear a helmet when I want to explore a city.” The trauma surgeon concludes: “The vehicle itself already has the potential to be dangerous, and that is why I am not surprised that the number of injuries and deaths is increasing.”
Often there are collisions
Of the more than 9,000 e-scooter accidents, a good third were single-vehicle accidents – that is, there were no other people involved. 12 of the 21 people killed on e-scooters died in single-vehicle accidents.
Almost two thirds (6,115) of the e-scooter accidents involving personal injury involved a second road user, most often a car driver (3,930 accidents). By comparison, cyclists were only involved in 913 incidents.
The accident figures do not include incidents caused by carelessly parked e-scooters. In some cities, parking is now only permitted in collective parking lots. dpa
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