Helsinki emergency departments treat 31% fewer e-scooter injury patients

Emergency departments in Helsinki treated 172 people injured in e-scooter incidents from January to August, down from 248 in the same period last year, Yle reports, citing HUS, the organisation responsible for specialist healthcare in the Uusimaa region.

The figures cover people over 16 injured on privately owned or rental e-scooters, as well as bystanders hurt in e-scooter accidents. They include only injuries requiring emergency care, not less serious cases treated at health centres.

HUS said the decline was partly explained by reduced use of shared e-scooters. In Helsinki, rental scooters were used for 3.3 million trips in the first eight months of this year, compared with 3.8 million a year earlier. While trips fell by about 13%, the number of people treated for injuries fell by about 31%.

The number of injured riders who were intoxicated also declined, from 42 in the first eight months of last year to 19 this year. A blood alcohol limit of 0.5 per mille for e-scooter use took effect in June 2025.

HUS said the sharpest fall in e-scooter accidents occurred between 2021 and 2022. It attributed that decline to speed and use restrictions for rental scooters introduced in Helsinki in September 2021.