Appendix 3 - Road safety considerations of E-scooter trials.

3.1 Data from the first year of the UK e-scooter trials data in 20-21 shows there were just 330 serious collisions UK wide across 16 million trips ridden. This equates to one in 500 journeys.

3.2 Most injurieshave been caused by the illegal use of privately owned e-scooters. A Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Transport Safety report in March 2022 showed 82% of all collisions since the trials started involved private/ illegal scooters. Casualty numbers involving hire scooters in UK schemes were similar to those involving hire e-bikes and private e-bikes.

3.3 Private e-scooters will remain illegal on the public highway during the hire fleet trial but are likely to be legalised in forthcoming legislation. Regulating sales and licensing will improve this situation.

3.4 Both the frequency and severity of e-scooter collisions are declining (though under reporting and misreporting is common). The figures need to be seen in the context of 53M journeys across all hire trial schemes between October 2020 and the end of 2024.

3.5 A Finnish study in2021-22 showed a 64% reduction in casualty numbers (and a smaller reduction in injury severity) after speed restrictions between midnight and 5am Sunday to Thursday and a complete hire ban between the same times at weekends were introduced.

3.6 A recent UK study found head injuries accounted for 22% of rider injuries from e-scooters. There is still plenty of debate about helmet use, which reduces some types of serious head injuries but not all. Media campaigns focusing on young adults have been shown to reduce injuries. Previous UK schemes offering helmets with the scooters have not seen significant increases in helmet usage and have been discontinued. (See also section 8 of this report for risk implications).