A recent Department for Transport factsheet reported on the main trends in collisions involving e-scooters in 2022, and the casualties involved. The report is based on final data for 2022, as supplied by police forces up to the end of August 2023. Interestingly, after an upsurge in e-scooter collisions and the resulting injuries in 2021, the number of reported collisions and casualties only increased moderately in 2022.
The number of collisions involving e-scooters rose from 1,352 to 1,402 year on year, while the number of casualties increased from 1,434 to 1,492. The report’s best estimate (after being adjusted for changes in the way the police report e-scooter collisions) is that 440 people were seriously injured in e-scooter collisions in 2022, compared to 418 in 2021, while 1,040 were slightly injured, up from 1,006 the year before.
Out of the 12 people killed in collisions involving e-scooters in 2022 (compared to 10 in the previous year), 11 were e-scooter riders, which indicates why the government classifies e-scooter users as one of the most vulnerable road user groups. After e-scooter users themselves, pedestrians and cyclists were the two types of road user that were most involved in collisions with e-scooters and injured as a result, with 233 pedestrians and 50 pedal cyclists reported seriously or slightly injured in 2022.
The number of reported casualties in collisions involving e-scooters has been on a broadly upward trend over the last few years, while the number of e-scooter users has grown rapidly following the coronavirus lockdowns. The popularity of e-scooters as a transport method, and the possible legalisation of private e-scooter use on public roads in the near future, mean that both the number of collisions involving e-scooters and the resulting casualties are unlikely to fall in the near future.
Despite this, the moderate year-on-year growth in collisions and injuries in 2022 offers hope that both e-scooter users, pedestrians, cyclists and other road users are becoming increasingly accustomed to the sight of e-scooters in UK roads, and that this familiarity will result in less e-scooter accidents and injuries. You can find our more about collisions involving e-scooters and who is legally responsible on our dedicated page:
