The majority of e-scooter accidents that involve someone needing hospital treatment are not being recorded in official road accident figures, a new study reveals, sparking fears that their dangers have been underplayed.
The analysis found that just 9% of injuries involving e-scooters and recorded by 20 emergency departments over a two-month period were found in official figures. And just over a quarter of the most serious injuries were recorded in road casualty data.
The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (Pacts), which commissioned the study, warns that hospital data is already showing “worrying trends in injuries to the head, face and spine” from e-scooter accidents. It says the growth in use of e-scooters has outstripped the ability of the official police reporting system to accurately record all injuries and collisions.
Margaret Winchcomb, deputy executive director at Pacts, said: “Zero-emissions vehicles such as e-scooters are popular. It is essential that the methods for measuring their hazard to riders and danger to other road users are consistent and robust.”
E-scooter use is being trialled in several locations across England, including Liverpool, Newcastle and Norwich. It is illegal to ride a privately owned scooter on other public roads, but they are widely available for sale. It is estimated that there are more than 750,000 privately owned e-scooters in the country.
The Pacts analysis compared official road casualty accident figures for Britain – compiled by the police and known as Stats19 – with hospital records over a snapshot period in October and November 2021. Figures from 20 emergency departments showed 243 casualties involving e-scooters, but only 21 incidents (8.6%) could be found in the Stats19 figures.
Researchers also analysed data used for a national clinical audit of traumatic injury in England and Wales for the same period. They found 54 serious casualties involving e-scooters, but only 14 (25.9%) on the Stats19 database.
The Stats19 system was introduced in 1949. It is reviewed about every five years and from 2024 a new category – “personal powered transporter device” – will be included. E-scooters have until now been classified as “other vehicles”.
The Department for Transport (DfT) accepts that a “considerable percentage” of non-fatal casualties are not reported to the police and so do not appear in Stats19 figures. The Pacts report recommends the public be given clear information about reporting accidents to the police. It proposed that all collisions that cause injury, whether they involve a third party or not, should be reported.
DfT analysis of reported road casualties involving e-scooters for the year to June 2023 found that more than half occurred outside the trial zones. Stats19 data records 1,269 collisions involving e-scooters in that period, with seven people killed and 390 seriously injured.
Nicholas Lyes of road safety charity IAM RoadSmart said the proportion of casualties outside e-scooter trial areas showed there was a “wild west” over their use. He said: “The government needs to urgently bring forward legislation on private e-scooters, which must include minimum type approval device standards, speed limiters and proposals for riders to have a minimum level of competency.”
A DfT spokesperson said: “Safety remains our top priority, which is why we work closely with police to regularly review and strengthen data around e-scooter incidents.”
