E-scooter safety back in the spotlight

For short journeys, e-scooters are a great low carbon alternative to gas guzzling cars. But, as with bikes, tumbling off can have disastrous, and costly, consequences. Between 2018 and 2022, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) reported ten thousand e-scooter injury claims worth $30m.  

The crux of the safety issue, says Louise, is that e-scooters are allowed on footpaths in Aotearoa New Zealand. That's different to most of the rest of the world, where they can only be ridden on cycle lanes, or, in some cases, the road.

In much of the EU, e-scooters are regulated and treated like a motor vehicle. Rules in Europe differ from place to place, but in general riders must wear helmets, the minimum age for riding an e-scooter is sixteen, passengers are banned, and mobile phones can’t be used. Some jurisdictions, such as Paris have banned e-scooters altogether because of rising deaths and injuries from accidents. 

“There’s no question that e-scooters are convenient, fun, and get you places faster,” says Louise. “But they’re also five times more likely than cycling to cause death or serious injury. That’s why it’s so important we get the safety settings right.”

Safety of others’ - perception versus reality

Information from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi shows that when e-scooter riders fall off, they mostly injure themselves – not others. That’s backed up by ACC figures showing just under four percent of e-scooter crashes involve a pedestrian.

On the other hand, surveys and anecdote show other footpath users – notably the elderly, disabled, and those walking with children - are worried about being knocked down by e-scooters. A series of surveys from Wellington City Council for example found that between 38 and 54 percent of respondents felt unsafe or very unsafe as a pedestrian while sharing footpaths with e-scooters.

“My mother has a friend who lives in a city centre and won't go walking anymore because of near misses with e-scooters. There’s lots of anecdotal stories like these, focused on individual experiences rather than what’s preventing people from feeling safe walking around their neighbourhood,” says Louise.

“What we don't know is how many people are not out walking because they're scared of colliding with an e-scooter. It’s likely to be a fairly large number based on previous work WSP has done with older people who worry about other footpath users, cracks, and uneven surfaces. More research in this area would be hugely beneficial.”

Steering toward a safer set-up

E-scooters only arrived on our shores in 2018. Being quite new, “everyone is still learning,” says Louise. Since WSP Research first investigated e-scooters two years’ ago a growing body of international evidence has emerged, including number and type of e-scooter accidents, where e-scooters are being used, how often, and what they’re being used for.

As new evidence comes to light, Louise says it’s important the transport authority regularly review its rules and safety settings around e-scooters. It may be, for example, that geofenced speed limits are needed in more central city areas.

In the meantime, there are some relatively straightforward things that can be done to improve the safety odds – if not for pedestrians, then for e-scooter riders. For example, making helmets compulsory, which can reduce a rider’s risk of e-scooter injury by 44 percent.

“Head protection has been mandatory for cycling since 1994. It’s hard to understand why the same isn’t required for e-scooters,” says Louise. 

Another change she wants to see is for e-scooter accidents to be included in road safety statistics. Currently, these are only reported through ACC and, as with cycling accidents, don’t find their way into road safety stats unless a vehicle was involved.

“Having all transport accidents in one place will help researchers and road safety experts better identify where to make change, ultimately improving the safety of all footpath users – whether on two legs or two wheels.”