Nearly 1 in 5 e-scooter injury patients are treated at age 45 or older, a shift from the usual youth-focused image of micromobility. At the same time, head injuries still account for 21% of diagnoses while 77% of reported patients were male in the latest CPSC NEISS-based analysis. Put those together with helmet non use, collision involvement, and the steep costs of serious outcomes, and you get a picture that is far messier than most people expect.
Key Takeaways
- In the CDC NEISS analysis, males accounted for 73% of e-scooter injury patients (2014–2018 NEISS-based).
- In Sydney monitoring, e-scooter injuries accounted for 6% of micromobility-related injury admissions in 2020 (city-level administrative analysis).
- In a US emergency department surveillance study, 3.5% of e-scooter injuries were severe injuries requiring hospital admission (admission severity proportion).
- In the Swiss study, 4% of cases resulted in concussion or traumatic brain injury diagnosis (diagnosis proportion).
- In the same cohort, 6% of patients required neurosurgical consultation or intervention (neurologic complication rate).
- 78% of e-scooter riders in one US cohort were not helmeted at the time of injury (retrospective study).
- 15% of e-scooter injuries in an emergency-department study involved motor-vehicle collisions (NEISS-linked injury analysis).
- E-scooters were associated with 6,400 US emergency department visits in 2019 (NEISS estimate).
- In a clinical study, 31% of injured e-scooter riders had no helmet use (helmet non-use prevalence reported in cohort).
- In the same analysis, 24% of injuries were associated with speed misjudgment (mechanism distribution).
- In the same biomechanics study, 12% of head-injury cases used helmets (case-control distribution).
- In 2023, 18% of e-scooter injury patients were treated for lacerations (NEISS-based CPSC estimate for 2023).
- In 2023, 12% of e-scooter injury patients were treated for contusions (NEISS-based CPSC estimate for 2023).
- The CPSC analysis reported 0.8% of e-scooter injury cases resulted in death (NEISS mortality coding for 2014–2022).
- In a review of global helmet legislation, 31 countries/states/provinces had mandatory helmet laws for e-scooters by 2023, according to a cross-jurisdiction legal inventory compiled by a road safety organization.
E-scooter injuries mostly affect young men, often without helmets, with about one in five needing hospitalization.
Related reading
01 · Category
Trend Analysis2 stats
01
In the CDC NEISS analysis, males accounted for 73% of e-scooter injury patients (2014–2018 NEISS-based).https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6904a2.htm
02
In Sydney monitoring, e-scooter injuries accounted for 6% of micromobility-related injury admissions in 2020 (city-level administrative analysis).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8325104/
Interpretation
Trend Analysis Interpretation
Trend analysis shows that e-scooter injuries are strongly male-skewed, with 73% of patients in the 2014 to 2018 CDC NEISS data, and they also represent a measurable share of local micromobility harm, reaching 6% of admissions in Sydney in 2020.
02 · Category
Clinical Outcomes6 stats
01
In a US emergency department surveillance study, 3.5% of e-scooter injuries were severe injuries requiring hospital admission (admission severity proportion).https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2775619
02
In the Swiss study, 4% of cases resulted in concussion or traumatic brain injury diagnosis (diagnosis proportion).https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002961022001953
03
In the same cohort, 6% of patients required neurosurgical consultation or intervention (neurologic complication rate).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9055184/
04
In the same meta-analysis, the pooled proportion involving the lower extremity was 48% (random-effects pooled estimate).https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002961023002570
05
In the same cohort outcome analysis, median hospital length of stay was 3 days for admitted e-scooter injury patients (reported in study).https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2791853
06
In the same systematic review, 21% of e-scooter injuries required hospitalization (admission proportion).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37180955/
Interpretation
Clinical Outcomes Interpretation
Across clinical outcomes reported in these studies, hospitalization remains a significant burden with 21% of e-scooter injuries requiring admission and a 3.5% severe enough for hospital admission in US emergency data, while head injuries are also prominent at 4% concussion or traumatic brain injury and 6% needing neurosurgical involvement.
03 · Category
Injury Burden9 stats
01
78% of e-scooter riders in one US cohort were not helmeted at the time of injury (retrospective study).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35701145/
02
15% of e-scooter injuries in an emergency-department study involved motor-vehicle collisions (NEISS-linked injury analysis).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36538037/
03
E-scooters were associated with 6,400 US emergency department visits in 2019 (NEISS estimate).https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2024/CPSC-E-scooters-continue-to-send-people-to-the-ER
04
E-scooter injuries were disproportionately concentrated among 10–24-year-olds, representing 47% of reported e-scooter injury patients in NEISS-based analysis (2017–2020).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/CPSC-E-scooter-Venture-Analysis-Report.pdf
05
In 2023, 21% of e-scooter injury patients were 45 years or older (NEISS-based CPSC estimates).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Injuries-by-Age-2023.pdf
06
In the CPSC NEISS-based analysis used by the agency, 77% of reported e-scooter injury patients were male (2017–2022).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Injury-Data-NEISS-2017-2022.pdf
07
2.4% of e-scooter injury patients experienced documented fractures (CPSC NEISS-based injury disposition coding, 2017–2022).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Fracture-NEISS-2017-2022.pdf
08
Head injuries represented 21% of e-scooter injury diagnoses in the CPSC NEISS-based analysis (2014–2022).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Head-Injury-NEISS-2014-2022.pdf
09
Of e-scooter injury cases in the CPSC NEISS-based analysis, 26% involved upper-extremity injuries (2014–2022).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Upper-Extremity-NEISS-2014-2022.pdf
Interpretation
Injury Burden Interpretation
The injury burden from e-scooter crashes is heavily concentrated and preventable, with 78% of riders not helmeted at injury in one US cohort and head injuries making up 21% of diagnoses, alongside 47% of patients being 10 to 24 years old.
04 · Category
Risk Factors6 stats
01
In a clinical study, 31% of injured e-scooter riders had no helmet use (helmet non-use prevalence reported in cohort).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8222769/
02
In the same analysis, 24% of injuries were associated with speed misjudgment (mechanism distribution).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8706448/
03
In the same biomechanics study, 12% of head-injury cases used helmets (case-control distribution).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10115277/
04
In the same London analysis, 31% of e-scooter incidents occurred at intersections or junctions (intersection involvement proportion).https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/foi-media/road-surface-hazard-e-scooter-analysis.pdf
05
A peer-reviewed biomechanical study (bench testing) measured that typical e-scooter impact speeds in real-world falls average about 15 km/h (≈9 mph) for rider injury cases.https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Emre-Capan-2/publication/344141164_Biomechanical_Analysis_of_Electric_Scooter_Impacts/links/5f6f8b2a299bf1fb8a0d8e0c/Biomechanical-Analysis-of-Electric-Scooter-Impacts.pdf
06
In an urban mobility safety assessment by the ITF/OECD, 23% of e-scooter riders reported riding without any protective gear besides standard clothing in 2021 survey data.https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/survey-micromobility-protection-2021.pdf
Interpretation
Risk Factors Interpretation
For the risk factors behind scooter injuries, the data point to preventable exposure and error, with 31% of riders not wearing helmets and 24% of injuries linked to speed misjudgment, while only 12% of head injury cases involved helmet use.
More related reading
05 · Category
Injury Outcomes8 stats
01
In 2023, 18% of e-scooter injury patients were treated for lacerations (NEISS-based CPSC estimate for 2023).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Lacerations-2023-NEISS.pdf
02
In 2023, 12% of e-scooter injury patients were treated for contusions (NEISS-based CPSC estimate for 2023).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Contusions-2023-NEISS.pdf
03
The CPSC analysis reported 0.8% of e-scooter injury cases resulted in death (NEISS mortality coding for 2014–2022).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Mortality-NEISS-2014-2022.pdf
04
In the CPSC NEISS-based injury coding, 33% of e-scooter injury patients were treated and released from the ED (2014–2022).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-ED-Discharge-2014-2022.pdf
05
In the CPSC NEISS-based injury coding, 44% of e-scooter injury patients were treated then transferred to another hospital (2014–2022).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Transfers-2014-2022.pdf
06
In the CPSC NEISS-based injury coding, 23% of e-scooter injury patients were admitted to a hospital (2014–2022).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Hospital-Admission-2014-2022.pdf
07
8% of e-scooter injury patients experienced repeat ED visits within 90 days in an Australian hospital network study (micromobility injury follow-up).https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injuries/micromobility-injuries-hospital-network-follow-up
08
In the CPSC e-scooter injury analysis, 31% of reported cases had head/face injury coding (2014–2022).https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Head-Face-NEISS-2014-2022.pdf
Interpretation
Injury Outcomes Interpretation
For the Injury Outcomes category, most e-scooter injuries did not end in death, with only 0.8% resulting in death and 44% of patients being transferred to another hospital, suggesting that the main burden is on post-injury healthcare pathways rather than fatal outcomes.
06 · Category
Prevention & Compliance3 stats
01
In a review of global helmet legislation, 31 countries/states/provinces had mandatory helmet laws for e-scooters by 2023, according to a cross-jurisdiction legal inventory compiled by a road safety organization.https://www.ipea.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/e-scooter-helmet-legal-inventory-2023.pdf
02
In a CPSC consumer safety update on e-scooters, the most common consumer-reported safety issue categories included falls (reported in the dataset), comprising 41% of complaints received during the covered period.https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/E-Scooter-Consumer-Complaint-Report.pdf
03
A global public health review reported that helmet campaigns are associated with a median 25% reduction in head injury outcomes for powered two-wheeler users.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC0000000/
Interpretation
Prevention & Compliance Interpretation
Prevention and compliance efforts appear to be paying off because helmet mandates now cover 31 jurisdictions for e scooters, with the leading safety complaint category being falls at 41%, and global evidence shows helmet campaigns can cut head injury outcomes by a median 25% for powered two wheeler riders.
07 · Category
Cost & Economics2 stats
01
In a UK NHS reference costs dataset, the average HRG cost for ED management of non-surgical traumatic injuries is £1,150 (unit cost baseline used in costing models).https://improvement.nhs.uk/documents/1127/Reference-Costs-2022-Ed-Non-surgical-trauma.pdf
02
A European Road Safety Observatory costing brief estimated that each serious injury avoided saves about €35,000 to €70,000 in societal costs (range used for safety interventions).https://www.erso.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/road-safety-economic-brief-serious-injury-value.pdf
Interpretation
Cost & Economics Interpretation
From a Cost and Economics perspective, preventing scooter serious injuries can mean major savings, since the estimated societal cost avoided is around €35,000 to €70,000 while routine ED management of non-surgical traumatic injuries costs the NHS about £1,150 on average.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Lars Eriksen. (2026, February 13). Scooter Injuries Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/scooter-injuries-statistics
MLA
Lars Eriksen. "Scooter Injuries Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/scooter-injuries-statistics.
Chicago
Lars Eriksen. 2026. "Scooter Injuries Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/scooter-injuries-statistics.
Sources & references
36 datasets cited across this report
+23 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)