E-scooter in danger: Exploded the number of accidents-experts raise the alarm!

E-scooter in danger: Exploded the number of accidents-experts raise the alarm!

Salzburg, Österreich - The number of e-scooter accidents in Austria has accepted alarming proportions. In 2024, around 7,500 people had to be treated in hospital due to such accidents, which corresponds to an increase of around 25 percent compared to 2023. It is particularly worrying that 12 percent of the accident drivers have been alcoholic at the time of the accident. The Board of Trustees for Road Safety (KFV) reports that an average of 90 percent of alcoholic e-scooter drivers had a blood alcohol value of more than 1.0 per thousand, which significantly increased the danger situation. Cases such as the latest fall of an e-scooter driver in Salzburg Kaigasse, who contracted an ankle break, illustrate the risks. The main causes of accidents are excessive speed, distraction and the influence of alcohol and drugs, says Klaus Robatsch from KFV.

The use of e-scooters is particularly common in young men in urban areas, where about two thirds of the injured men and most of them are under 40. The KFV calls for dramatic measures to improve traffic safety, including a helmet obligation for all e-scooter users, because despite the dangers, only around 9 percent of the drivers have a helmet. "We have to continue to advocate more responsibility and security measures," explains Robatsch. The data clearly show that psychological and physical impairments by alcohol or medication further increase the risk of accidents. Penalties for alcoholic drivers can be up to 5,900 euros, which may not affect many negligent users who still want to drive after a beer.

urgent need for action

The KFV statistics also show a sudden increase in the injured since the e-scooter boom in 2019, when the number of injuries treated in the hospital was quinted from 1,200 to 6,000 in 2023. In addition to a helmet obligation, the KFV also calls for technical improvements such as turn signals, a second brake and a speed limit of 20 km/h for e-scooters. Robatsch emphasizes: "These measures could make a decisive contribution to significantly reducing the number of accidents." While most accidents are due to self -fault, the number of unreported cases remains particularly high due to non -reported single accidents. The KFV therefore calls for responsible driving and warns of the dangers that go hand in hand with the consumption of alcoholic beverages and use of e-scooters, as reported and the kfv supplemented.