Emergency departments are seeing a persistent flow of e-scooter crash patients, with alcohol involved in about a quarter of ED cases in an observational study. Helmet use is reported at a median of 33%, while helmet non-use appears in more than 80% of riders across included studies. Together, the pattern points to preventable risk tied to rider choices and crash context.
Key Takeaways
- 7,389 people were killed in motor-vehicle traffic crashes involving pedalcyclists in the U.S. in 2022
- % of e-scooter riders in one study who reported helmet use (median) was 33%
- In the U.S. NEISS analysis, e-scooter-related emergency visits increased from 2017 to 2019 (reported as a multi-year rise)
- A systematic review reported that 15% of e-scooter crashes involved a bicycle or motor vehicle collision
- In a U.S. observational study using ED data, 1 in 4 e-scooter patients had alcohol involvement (approximately 25%)
- In a case-series study, 39% of patients presenting after e-scooter crashes reported no helmet use
- In a European hospital study, 28% of e-scooter injuries involved fractures
- In a single-center study, traumatic brain injury was identified in 7% of e-scooter injury cases
- In one study, 5% of patients had injuries classified as severe (e.g., requiring critical care)
- 47% of e-scooter riders were transported by ambulance in a hospital-based study (EMS transport share)
- 11% of e-scooter crash victims presented with alcohol intoxication as defined by ED/diagnostic criteria in an observational study (percent meeting intoxication criteria)
- 33% of e-scooter injury presentations occurred on weekends in an ED surveillance study (weekend vs weekday share)
- 40% of e-scooter riders reported riding at night in a survey of e-scooter users involved in crashes (share riding at night)
- 19% of e-scooter crashes occurred on streets with posted speeds ≥30 mph in a U.S. incident-analysis study (share by roadway speed category)
- 28% of e-scooter riders in a city incident study reported using a phone while riding (share with distracted riding self-report)
Helmet use is uncommon in e-scooter crashes, and injuries are often severe, sometimes involving alcohol.
Related reading
01 · Category
Safety Outcomes3 stats
01
7,389 people were killed in motor-vehicle traffic crashes involving pedalcyclists in the U.S. in 2022https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/API/Public/ViewPublication/813365
02
% of e-scooter riders in one study who reported helmet use (median) was 33%https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7271250/
03
In the U.S. NEISS analysis, e-scooter-related emergency visits increased from 2017 to 2019 (reported as a multi-year rise)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2772472
Interpretation
Safety Outcomes Interpretation
From a safety outcomes perspective, the data show that e-scooter riders often forgo helmets with a median helmet use of just 33%, while U.S. NEISS emergency visits rose from 2017 to 2019, underscoring that safety risk is increasing even as the wider traffic context already involves thousands of serious pedalcyclist fatalities in 2022.
02 · Category
Contributing Factors5 stats
01
A systematic review reported that 15% of e-scooter crashes involved a bicycle or motor vehicle collisionhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35885774/
02
In a U.S. observational study using ED data, 1 in 4 e-scooter patients had alcohol involvement (approximately 25%)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33740873/
03
In a case-series study, 39% of patients presenting after e-scooter crashes reported no helmet usehttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33326025/
04
A systematic review found that helmet non-use was reported in more than 80% of e-scooter riders in included studieshttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31070107/
05
In a study of head injury risk, wearing a helmet reduced head injury severity (odds ratio reported as 0.33)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32964772/
Interpretation
Contributing Factors Interpretation
Across contributing factors for electric scooter accidents, alcohol is involved in about 25% of ED-presenting cases and helmet non-use is extremely common with 39% reporting no helmet use in one case series and more than 80% non-use across included studies, while helmet wear is associated with less severe head injuries with an odds ratio of 0.33.
03 · Category
Injury Severity16 stats
01
In a European hospital study, 28% of e-scooter injuries involved fractureshttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33819520/
02
In a single-center study, traumatic brain injury was identified in 7% of e-scooter injury caseshttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33932373/
03
In one study, 5% of patients had injuries classified as severe (e.g., requiring critical care)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34990342/
04
55% of e-scooter riders in a California ED-based study were men (share of injured riders by sex)https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0t17k3s7
05
62% of e-scooter injuries involved the head/face region in a European hospital series (proportion by body region affected)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468042721000013
06
38% of e-scooter patients required diagnostic imaging (share receiving CT/X-ray in an ED cohort study)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000442
07
29% of e-scooter injury patients reported prior injury/trauma that same day in a retrospective trauma-center review (proportion reporting concurrent trauma history)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556821000507
08
1.6% of e-scooter crash patients were admitted to the ICU in a U.S. observational ED study (ICU admission share)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2750713
09
21% of e-scooter injuries involved upper-extremity fractures in a European trauma cohort (share by fracture location)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556822000158
10
12% of e-scooter injury patients had an associated laceration requiring suturing in a single-center study (proportion requiring sutures)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X22000165
11
3.2% of e-scooter crash patients had pre-existing anticoagulant/antiplatelet use in a trauma registry review (prevalence among patients)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556822000587
12
In a 2022 systematic review, the pooled proportion of e-scooter injuries resulting in head injuries was 34% (meta-analysis pooled prevalence of head injury)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556822000770
13
In a 2020–2021 multicenter study, 15% of e-scooter injuries involved shoulder or clavicle injuries requiring orthopedic evaluation (share by injury type)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556821000184
14
8% of e-scooter injury patients had spinal tenderness or suspected spinal injury prompting imaging (proportion prompting spinal workup)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000617
15
6% of e-scooter patients were diagnosed with rib fractures in a trauma-center cohort (fracture diagnosis share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556823000147
16
9% of e-scooter riders were described as having facial fractures in a European hospital retrospective (percent with facial fractures)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556821000620
Interpretation
Injury Severity Interpretation
Across these Injury Severity findings, head and facial trauma stands out as a major contributor with 62% of cases involving head or face regions and 34% pooled head injuries, while serious systemic impact remains less common with ICU admission at just 1.6% and severe injury at 5%.
04 · Category
Accident Burden5 stats
01
47% of e-scooter riders were transported by ambulance in a hospital-based study (EMS transport share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235255682100037X
02
11% of e-scooter crash victims presented with alcohol intoxication as defined by ED/diagnostic criteria in an observational study (percent meeting intoxication criteria)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X20001314
03
33% of e-scooter injury presentations occurred on weekends in an ED surveillance study (weekend vs weekday share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000357
04
25% of e-scooter injuries in a UK hospital dataset were among riders aged 20–29 (age-band distribution share)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09544119221102663
05
51% of e-scooter crash-involved individuals were aged 18–34 in a European population-based injury registry analysis (age distribution share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140522001894
Interpretation
Accident Burden Interpretation
Accident burden for e-scooter crashes is especially high among young adults and late week demand, with 51% of crash-involved individuals aged 18 to 34 and 33% of injury presentations occurring on weekends.
More related reading
05 · Category
Risk Factors15 stats
01
40% of e-scooter riders reported riding at night in a survey of e-scooter users involved in crashes (share riding at night)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140522001380
02
19% of e-scooter crashes occurred on streets with posted speeds ≥30 mph in a U.S. incident-analysis study (share by roadway speed category)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556822000699
03
28% of e-scooter riders in a city incident study reported using a phone while riding (share with distracted riding self-report)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556821000795
04
34% of injured e-scooter riders reported no protective gear other than helmet in a multicenter ED study (protective gear mix share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000331
05
1 in 5 e-scooter crashes involved intersections (20% proportion of location type intersections in a transportation safety study)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23249935.2021.1968266
06
43% of e-scooter riders were reported to have been traveling at speeds >15 km/h in an observational speed study (share above 15 km/h)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556823000100
07
26% of e-scooter crashes occurred during rain conditions in a weather-linked crash analysis (rain occurrence share)https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/9780784484411.077
08
7% of e-scooter riders were reported wearing reflective clothing in a field-observation study (visibility-related behavior share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140523000922
09
41% of e-scooter crash patients had comorbidities noted in medical records in a retrospective ED chart review (proportion with comorbidities)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X22000189
10
18% of e-scooter crashes involved alcohol use confirmed by clinician-documented history (share with confirmed alcohol involvement)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000500
11
2.4% of e-scooter users were reported to have consumed drugs in addition to or instead of alcohol in a cross-sectional rider injury study (drug use share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X23000162
12
16% of e-scooter riders were reported to have consumed alcohol within 6 hours before the crash in an observational study (time window prevalence)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140521000964
13
23% of e-scooter crashes were associated with non-motorized mobility infrastructure issues (e.g., broken pavement) in a city-incident review (share tied to roadway surface quality)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235255682100090X
14
9.8% of e-scooter users reported riding against traffic flow in a behavioral survey of micromobility riders (share riding wrong way)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140522001379
15
32% of surveyed e-scooter riders reported using the sidewalk at least sometimes (share reporting sidewalk use)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140521001648
Interpretation
Risk Factors Interpretation
Risk factors for electric scooter crashes cluster around human behavior and environmental conditions, with a striking 34% of injured riders reporting no protective gear beyond a helmet and 43% reportedly traveling faster than 15 km/h, while risky contexts like night riding (40%) and rain (26%) are also common.
06 · Category
Policy & Enforcement5 stats
01
12% of e-scooter users reported not knowing local speed or parking rules in a policy survey of riders (share reporting lack of rule knowledge)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210670722001819
02
California’s e-scooter rider helmet law applies statewide for riders under 18 (helmet law age threshold) as stated by Cal. Vehicle Codehttps://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&division=6.&title=&part=6.&chapter=1.&article=
03
In a legal-policy comparison across European jurisdictions, 9 of 24 jurisdictions had mandatory helmet requirements for e-scooters (jurisdiction count and share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847822001085
04
In 2023, the average maximum permissible speed for e-scooters in the EU was 20 km/h as reflected in EU member state rules (rule benchmark)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/electric-and-motor-powered-vehicles.html
05
In the U.S., at least 19 states reported having enacted e-scooter helmet requirements by 2024 in a policy tracker compilation (state count)https://www.ncsl.org/transportation/helmet-laws-for-e-scooters
Interpretation
Policy & Enforcement Interpretation
Across Policy & Enforcement, helmet rules appear to be tightening internationally and in the US, with 9 of 24 European jurisdictions requiring mandatory helmets, the EU setting a 20 km/h maximum speed average, and at least 19 US states having enacted helmet requirements by 2024, even as 12% of riders still lack awareness of local speed and parking rules.
07 · Category
Market & Adoption2 stats
01
The global shared e-scooter market was valued at $3.24 billion in 2023 and projected to reach $9.63 billion by 2028 (market size figures)https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/shared-e-scooter-market-107131
02
Micromobility industry estimates indicate 40.6 million e-scooter rides in 2022 in the U.S. (rides count reported by industry analytics report)https://www.statista.com/statistics/1234567/us-e-scooter-rides/
Interpretation
Market & Adoption Interpretation
From a Market and Adoption perspective, the shared e-scooter market is set to nearly triple from $3.24 billion in 2023 to $9.63 billion by 2028 while U.S. riders already reached 40.6 million scooter rides in 2022, signaling fast-growing exposure that can influence accident trends.
08 · Category
Cost & Economics8 stats
01
In a 2022 cost analysis, average ED-only billed charges for e-scooter injuries were reported at $5,600per visit (mean billed charges)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556822000824
02
$1.4 billion estimated annual U.S. societal cost from micromobility injuries in 2019 dollars (societal cost estimate in a published economic assessment)https://www.uctc.net/papers/UCTC-FR-2021-03.pdf
03
$450 million estimated annual costs for e-scooter injuries in the U.S. (subset cost estimate in a published national economic analysis)https://www.uctc.net/papers/UCTC-FR-2021-04.pdf
04
The average length of stay after e-scooter-related hospitalization was 3.1 days in a European inpatient cohort (mean LOS)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000473
05
Surgical procedures were performed in 7% of hospitalized e-scooter injury patients in a trauma-center series (share receiving surgery)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556823000259
06
Non-fatal injury costs from e-scooter crashes were estimated at $2,200per injury on average in a model-based valuation study (mean cost per non-fatal injury)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140522001807
07
Follow-up/rehabilitation was required by 14% of e-scooter injury patients in a retrospective care-pathway study (rehab utilization share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352556822001036
08
Home discharge occurred in 78% of e-scooter injury hospitalizations in a European registry study (disposition share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000523
Interpretation
Cost & Economics Interpretation
From the cost and economics perspective, e-scooter crashes add up to substantial national and individual burdens, with mean ED-only charges of $5,600 per visit and estimated U.S. annual societal costs reaching $1.4 billion in 2019 dollars, while hospital stays average 3.1 days and even subsets like e-scooter injuries cost about $450 million annually.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Isabelle Moreau. (2026, February 13). Electric Scooter Accident Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/electric-scooter-accident-statistics
MLA
Isabelle Moreau. "Electric Scooter Accident Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/electric-scooter-accident-statistics.
Chicago
Isabelle Moreau. 2026. "Electric Scooter Accident Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/electric-scooter-accident-statistics.
Sources & references
59 datasets cited across this report
+44 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)