E-scooters in danger: Accident numbers are exploding – experts are sounding the alarm!

E-scooters in danger: Accident numbers are exploding – experts are sounding the alarm!

The number of e-scooter accidents in Austria has reached alarming proportions. In 2024, around 7,500 people had to be hospitalized due to such accidents, which corresponds to an increase of around 25 percent compared to 2023. What is particularly worrying is that 12 percent of the drivers involved in an accident were drunk at the time of the accident. The Board of Trustees for Road Safety (KFV) reports that on average 90 percent of e-scooter drivers who were drunk had a blood alcohol level of more than 1.0 per mille, which significantly increases the risk. Cases such as the recent fall of an e-scooter driver in Salzburg Kaigasse, who fractured his ankle, illustrate the risks. The main causes of accidents are excessive speed, distraction and the influence of alcohol and drugs, according to Klaus Robatsch from KFV.

The use of e-scooters is particularly common among young men in urban areas, where around two-thirds of those injured are men and the majority of them are under 40 years old. The KFV is calling for dramatic measures to improve road safety, including a helmet requirement for all e-scooter users, because despite the dangers, only around 9 percent of drivers wear a helmet. “We must continue to advocate for more responsibility and safety measures,” explains Robatsch. The data clearly shows that psychological and physical impairments caused by alcohol or medication further increase the risk of accidents. Fines for drunk drivers can be up to €5,900, 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 sharp increase in injuries since the e-scooter boom in 2019, when the number of injured people treated in hospital increased fivefold from 1,200 to 6,000 in 2023. With a focus on safety, the KFV is calling for a helmet requirement as well as technical improvements such as indicators, 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 caused by oneself, the number of unreported accidents remains particularly high due to unreported solo accidents. The KFV therefore calls for responsible driving and warns of the dangers associated with the consumption of alcoholic beverages and the use of e-scooters ORF Salzburg reported and that KFV added.