Nearly half of Danes want e-scooters banned from traffic

Nearly half of Danes support banning e-scooters from traffic, according to a poll conducted by Epinion for Danish broadcaster DR. Forty-four per cent said they agreed or mostly agreed that riding e-scooters should be prohibited.

Jakob Bøving Arendt, chief executive of the Road Safety Council, said he understood why some people wanted a ban, given the dangerous situations that can arise in traffic. But he said a complete prohibition would be too drastic and called for an examination of the vehicles’ effects on roads and whether rules should be tightened.

The council wants the age limit changed. Children under 15 can currently ride an e-scooter if accompanied by an adult, but the council says no one under 15 should be allowed to ride one.

Lissa Holdgaard, 91, of Vallensbæk, supports a ban. She was knocked down by an e-scooter on a pavement outside her local supermarket two years ago and suffered a concussion and injuries to her face. She said the experience had left her afraid of the vehicles.

Marie Lyngdahl Gallista, 15, of Vildbjerg near Herning, opposes a ban. She uses her e-scooter to travel to school, visit friends and get to activities, and said accidents involving cars did not mean cars should be banned.

Riding e-scooters in traffic has been legal under a trial scheme since 2019. There is no official accident statistic specifically for e-scooters, but a 2025 evaluation by the Danish Road Traffic Authority found that the risk of a police-registered accident was eight to nine times higher for an e-scooter than for a bicycle. Data from the National Patient Register put the risk at three to four times higher.