E-scooter crashes cause more severe injuries than motorcycle crashes

E-scooter riders face a higher risk of traumatic brain injuries and internal organ damage than both cyclists and motorcyclists, according to research from England and Wales reported by SVT.

Researchers compared accident registry data involving 15,247 patients with moderate to severe traumatic injuries. Adult e-scooter riders had 3.5 times the risk of traumatic brain injury and 1.5 times the risk of internal organ damage compared with motorcyclists. Their risk of blood vessel injuries was more than three times higher.

“The study shows that e-scooter crashes are more powerful and more serious,” Andreas Thor, a professor at Uppsala University’s Department of Surgical Sciences, told SVT’s Morgonstudion.

The risks of all three types of injury were also higher among e-scooter riders than among conventional cyclists, although the difference was smaller.

Karin Jamil, an ear, nose and throat doctor at Karolinska University Hospital, said the findings were not surprising. She treats patients who may need surgery for facial fractures after e-scooter crashes.

“With motorcycles, it is accepted that you should protect yourself and follow the rules. With e-scooters, there is a feeling that you can ride more or less as you want and do not need a helmet,” she said.

Few seriously injured riders wore helmets

Thor said the research was consistent with previous findings that e-scooter riders rarely wear helmets. Only 5 to 6 percent of seriously injured e-scooter riders in the study wore one, compared with about 45 percent of cyclists and 75 percent of motorcyclists.

The researchers behind the new study, published in Scientific Reports, also believe that the low rate of helmet use among e-scooter riders compared with motorcyclists contributes to the large difference in injuries.

Accidents involving e-scooters increased by 38 percent in Sweden in 2025 compared with the previous year. Seven people were killed and 6,498 were injured.

Between 2016 and 2024, 204 people died in Sweden in accidents involving e-scooters, electric bicycles and conventional bicycles.

None of the e-scooter riders who died was wearing a helmet, while about one quarter of those killed while riding electric or conventional bicycles were wearing one. Fatal e-scooter accidents were largely single-vehicle crashes that occurred at weekends, in the evenings or at night. Fatal accidents involving conventional and electric bicycles more often involved collisions with motor vehicles on weekdays.

Alcohol was involved in 44 percent of fatal e-scooter accidents, compared with 27 percent of fatal electric bicycle accidents and 13 percent of fatal conventional bicycle accidents. The median age of those killed while riding e-scooters was 47.5, compared with about 71 for both conventional and electric cyclists.

The figures are based on information from Chalmers University of Technology and the Swedish Transport Agency.

Rules under review

The Swedish Transport Agency has begun an investigation into whether the current rules for e-scooters are fit for purpose and whether they need to be revised. The investigation is due to be completed at the beginning of 2027.

Under the current rules, an e-scooter used in traffic may have a maximum speed of 20 kilometres per hour and a continuous rated motor output of no more than 250 watts. It may carry only one person. E-scooters should primarily be ridden on cycle paths and must have brakes, a bell or equivalent sound signal, front and rear lights, and reflectors when used in darkness.

Riders under the age of 15 must wear a helmet.