More and more bans

Electric scooters: the silent danger in cities

The scooter riders' equipment is usually inadequate.

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Scooters are in the risky fast lane in urban areas: 6000 e-scooter riders had to be treated in hospital last year after crashes. Experts are calling for mandatory helmets and a reduction in the maximum speed. More and more European cities are banning rental scooters. 

For some, electric scooters are a modern form of mobility, while others see them as an enormous danger. The fact is, they often whizz over sidewalks and safety paths and endanger pedestrians and other road users. Last year, 1762 traffic accidents involving e-scooters were registered and the police had to be called out. The number of unreported cases is higher. As with cyclists, there is of course a lack of liability insurance.

Three quarters of accidents are self-inflicted
Three quarters of accidents are due to self-inflicted injuries. The main causes include misjudging the ground conditions, speed and driving behavior of the e-scooter as well as carelessness and distraction.

Alcohol and drug abuse account for a considerable twelve percent. This means that almost one in eight incidents happens while intoxicated. In 2022, around 3,600 scooter riders suffered such serious injuries in crashes that they ended up in an accident ambulance; last year, according to the Austrian Road Safety Board, this figure had already risen to 6,000. Open wounds, bruises and even broken bones are not uncommon. The most common areas affected are wrists, fingers, forearms, shoulders, knees and heads. Despite this, helmets are not yet compulsory for fast scooters.

Calls for compulsory helmets are getting louder and louder.

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Finance Minister snatched a pretzel with a scooter
However, it is not necessarily just young city dwellers who enjoy this new form of transportation. Finance Minister Magnus Brunner is another one who has caught the bug. After the opening ceremony of parliament, when he decided not to use a chauffeur-driven car and to drive home in an environmentally friendly manner, he snapped a pretzel. The minister suffered head injuries and had to be treated in hospital.

"We demand 20 km/h, compulsory helmets and two brakes, bell or horn like on a bicycle"

Klaus Robatsch, Leiter der Verkehrssicherheit im KfV

You are currently allowed to travel at 25 km/h. The use of rental systems is considered particularly risky. The call for a kind of "driver's license" is getting louder and louder. After all, in the event of an accident, the driver of the car who is not at fault is left to pay for the damage, as e-scooter riders have no liability insurance.

Paris rejects rental system
Many cities are already doing away with it. The people of Paris, for example, have clearly spoken out against rental scooters. In Germany, Gelsenkirchen has led the way with a ban. In the Netherlands, electric scooters are generally not permitted, with a few exceptions. And in the UK, e-scooters are also generally prohibited on public roads.

Interview with ÖAMTC traffic engineer David Nosé

"Krone": What makes e-scooters so dangerous on domestic roads?
David Nosé: Several factors play a role here. In addition to the special driving dynamics (high center of gravity, small wheels, complex turning and emergency braking maneuvers), it is above all the lack of risk awareness and a lack of adherence to and knowledge of the rules that generate safety-related losses. It is often underestimated that e-scooters differ significantly from the riding characteristics of a bicycle.

How can the risks be reduced?
The most important measure here is the acquisition of an appropriate riding routine and the choice of a defensive riding style. Getting to grips with the vehicle before riding for the first time and, ideally, practicing in traffic-free areas would be important aspects. In addition, we always urge you to wear a helmet, never ride an e-scooter with several people at the same time, never ride under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication, wear light-colored clothing in the dark season and only use designated traffic areas.

In your opinion, should helmets be compulsory in the future?
Making helmets compulsory would sometimes be counterproductive for the promotion of sustainable (micro) mobility in urban areas. However, we support all kinds of campaigns to encourage people to wear helmets.

Should there be a ban at all - as in other cities - at least on rental scooters?
E-scooters are not dangerous per se - but they do require a higher level of riding skills and awareness of how to use these vehicles. Rental scooter providers have already been instructed to enforce stricter controls on their users. Most e-scooter riders involved in accidents are between 15 and 24 years old.