Accredited official statistics

Reported road casualties Great Britain: e-Scooter factsheet 2023

Updated 26 September 2024

About this factsheet

This factsheet examines the main trends in collisions involving e-scooters and the casualties involved, collected in STATS19 reportable collisions.

E-scooter users are one of the vulnerable user groups. They are not protected by a vehicle body in the same way car users are, and tend to be harder for drivers to see on the road. They are, therefore, particularly susceptible to injuries.

Please refer to the background notes for further details of how the data are collected including caveats.

1. Things you need to know

1.1 Final figures

This factsheet is based on final data for 2023, as supplied by police forces up to 1 September 2024.

1.2 Severity adjustment

This factsheet provides an estimate of the number of personal injury road traffic collisions involving e-scooters, in Great Britain, in 2023 using the STATS19 reporting system. The figures are based on adjusting figures reported by the police for slight and serious injuries to take account of changes in the reporting of injury severity by some police forces in recent years. These adjusted figures can reliably be used to compare trends over time across the country. They are based on what we estimate the totals would be if all police forces were using injury-based severity reporting systems. More information on the change and adjustment process is available in the severity adjustments guidance.

2. Main findings

Based on final data, in 2023:

• there were 1,292 collisions involving e-scooters, compared to 1,411 in 2022^{[footnote 1]}
• of all collisions involving e-scooters, 284 included only one e-scooter with no other vehicles involved in the collision (single vehicle collision), compared to 347 in 2022
• there were 1,387 casualties in collisions involving e-scooters, compared to 1,502 in 2022
• of all casualties in collisions involving e-scooters, 1,117 were e-scooter users, compared to 1,154 in 2022
• there were 6 killed in collisions involving e-scooters (6 of whom were e-scooter riders) compared to 12 in 2022
• our best estimate, after adjusting for changes in reporting by police, is that there were 416 seriously injured and 965 slightly injured in collisions involving e-scooters, this compares to 441 and 1,049 respectively in 2022

3. Reported collisions and casualties involving e-scooters

Table 1 shows the number of reported road casualties in collisions involving e-scooters in Great Britain in 2023, by road user type. Excluding e-scooter casualties themselves the main types of other road users involved in collisions involving e-scooters are pedestrians and cyclists.

Table 1: Number of reported casualties in collisions involving e-scooters, by road user type, Great Britain, 2023

Road user type	Killed	Serious (adjusted)	Slight (adjusted)	Total
E-scooter user	6	343	768	1,117
Pedestrian	0	52	134	186
Pedal Cyclist	0	15	24	39
Motor Cyclist	0	4	7	11
Car Occupant	0	1	29	30
Bus Occupant	0	0	1	1
Other Vehicle Occupant	0	1	2	3
Total	6	416	965	1,387

Chart 1 shows the number of reported casualties in collisions involving e-scooters from 2020 when they were first recorded in STATS19 up to 2023. There has been a broadly upward trend over this period, with dips during the coronavirus lockdowns, though the number of casualties has followed a similar pattern in 2022 and 2023, with a higher number of casualties in the summer months.

Chart 1: Reported casualties in collisions involving e-scooters by month, Great Britain from January 2020

4. Casualties by age and sex

Chart 2 shows the number of reported e-scooter user casualties, by age and sex in Great Britain in 2023. There are more male than female e-scooter user casualties, especially amongst those aged between 10 and 39.

Chart 2: Reported e-scooter user casualties, by sex and age, Great Britain, 2023

Note: Cases where the casualty age and sex are unknown have been removed from chart 2

Chart 3 shows the number of reported casualties other than e-scooter users in collisions involving e-scooters by age in 2022 and 2023. Casualties are spread across all age groups with the biggest categories being between ages 20 and 59. Patterns by age group are broadly similar when comparing 2023 to 2022.

Chart 3: Reported casualties other than e-scooter user involved in e-scooter collisions, by age, Great Britain, 2022 and 2023

Note: Cases where the casualty age is unknown have been removed from chart 3

5. Casualties by time of day

Chart 4 shows the number of casualties involved in e-scooter collisions by time of the day, in 2022 and 2023. The trend is the same for both years, an upward trend starting at 6am and ending at around 4pm to 5pm with a dip around 10am, followed by a downward trend from around 5pm to 10pm. There are 2 peaks, the first one at 8am and the second one at around 4pm to 5pm.

Chart 4: Casualties in collisions involving e-scooters by time of the day, Great Britain, 2023

6. Casualties by police force area

Table 2 shows the number of reported collisions involving e-scooters by police force in Great Britain, in 2023. The Metropolitan police reported around a quarter of all casualties involving e-scooters in Great Britain, compared with around a fifth of all casualties involving any vehicle. The remaining e-scooter casualties were spread across the other police forces, with higher numbers in areas where there is an ongoing trial (see below).

Table 2: Reported casualties in collisions involving e-scooters by police force, Great Britain, 2023

Police force	Involving e-scooters	Involving e-scooters (% of GB)	Involving any vehicle	Involving any vehicle (% of GB)
Avon and Somerset	116	8%	2,981	2%
Bedfordshire	30	2%	1,780	1%
Cambridgeshire	33	2%	2,078	2%
Cheshire	8	1%	1,956	1%
City of London	1	0%	187	0%
Cleveland	11	1%	806	1%
Cumbria	3	0%	1,108	1%
Derbyshire	34	2%	2,264	2%
Devon and Cornwall	7	1%	3,652	3%
Dorset	23	2%	1,739	1%
Durham	2	0%	741	1%
Dyfed-Powys	2	0%	1,415	1%
Essex	57	4%	3,725	3%
Gloucestershire	15	1%	1,465	1%
Greater Manchester	13	1%	3,242	2%
Gwent	9	1%	649	0%
Hampshire	81	6%	4,201	3%
Hertfordshire	22	2%	2,416	2%
Humberside	29	2%	2,512	2%
Kent	40	3%	5,277	4%
Lancashire	21	2%	3,753	3%
Leicestershire	24	2%	1,562	1%
Lincolnshire	0	0%	2,261	2%
Merseyside	52	4%	2,679	2%
Metropolitan Police	321	23%	26,023	20%
Norfolk	15	1%	1,848	1%
North Wales	7	1%	1,031	1%
North Yorkshire	6	0%	1,941	1%
Northamptonshire	52	4%	1,591	1%
Northumbria	18	1%	2,489	2%
Nottinghamshire	64	5%	2,441	2%
Police Scotland	17	1%	5,801	4%
South Wales	19	1%	1,249	1%
South Yorkshire	26	2%	2,894	2%
Staffordshire	1	0%	1,174	1%
Suffolk	2	0%	1,265	1%
Surrey	12	1%	3,506	3%
Sussex	33	2%	4,598	3%
Thames Valley	61	4%	3,626	3%
Warwickshire	9	1%	1,325	1%
West Mercia	8	1%	1,956	1%
West Midlands	58	4%	6,434	5%
West Yorkshire	18	1%	5,452	4%
Wiltshire	7	1%	1,884	1%
Total	1,387	100%	132,977	100%

7. Casualties in e-scooter trial areas

The government is running trials of e-scooters, which are currently taking place in around 20 areas.

Estimating the number of e-scooter user casualties riding rental scooters within one of the approved trial areas is not straightforward as currently the distinction between trial and privately owned e-scooters involved in collisions is recorded inconsistently by police forces as part of a free text field, and in some areas (including for the Metropolitan police) there are a high proportion of collisions where the police officer does not identify the type of e-scooter involved.

However, based on the location of the casualty we can be confident that where the collision occurred in an area with no trial taking place that a private scooter was involved.

In 2023, over half (618) of the e-scooter user casualties recorded were estimated to have occurred outside trial areas (table 3). The remaining 499 occurred within or close to trial areas at a time a trial was in operation. However, some of these casualties will have been riding private scooters, so the number of rental scooter casualties will be lower than this.

A breakdown of the casualties within and outside trial areas by the type of scooter in 2023 is shown in Table 3.

Of the 411 casualties within trial areas outside London, over 60% with a recorded scooter type were riding rental scooters (a total of 102 casualties). However, as scooter type was unknown in more than half of cases, it is not possible to confidently estimate the total of casualties that were riding trial scooters. We can however say that outside London, the number of rental scooter casualties in 2023 was between 102 and 355.

For London, the proportion of casualties with scooter type recorded is very small, so it is not possible to estimate the number of rental scooter casualties with any degree of confidence. Operator data including numbers of more seriously injured casualties is published by Transport for London though is not directly comparable with the STATS19 data.

Table 3: Reported e-scooter user casualties by whether inside a trial area and scooter type, Great Britain, 2023

Region	Outside trial area	Within trial area - private scooter	Within trial area - rental scooter	Within trial area - scooter type unknown	Within trial area - total	Overall total
London	162	2	3	83	88	250
Outside London	456	56	102	253	411	867
Great Britain	618	58	105	336	499	1,117

Table 4 shows the number of e-scooters involved in reported road collisions, by ownership type, highlighting the police force areas covering the largest trials in place.

While it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions from the data reported at present, we will continue to issue guidance to police forces to attempt to capture more robust data on casualties within trial areas where possible.

Table 4: Reported e-scooters involved in collisions by ownership type, Great Britain, 2023

Police force	Private	Rental	Unknown
Avon and Somerset	13	10	87
Dorset	15	7	1
Hampshire	36	12	28
Merseyside	15	23	10
Metropolitan Police	7	3	293
Northamptonshire	0	40	12
Nottinghamshire	2	1	57

8. Injuries in collisions involving e-scooters

For police forces using injury-based reporting systems, information on the most severe injury sustained is available within STATS19. While coverage is not complete, this provides further detail on the outcomes of road collisions. Further details of what is collected are covered in our factsheet on injuries in road collisions.

Table 5 shows that the 3 most common type of injuries sustained in collisions involving e-scooters (to the e-scooter users or others) are of slight severity. However, the fourth, fifth and sixth most common type of injuries (excluding other injuries) are different type of fractures and head injures which are considered as serious injuries.

Table 5: Reported casualties in collisions involving e-scooters by injury type, Great Britain, 2023

Injury type	Severity	Number of casualties
Shallow cuts, lacerations or abrasions	Slight	268
Bruising	Slight	156
Sprains and strains	Slight	103
Fractured lower leg, ankle, foot	Serious	58
Other injury	Slight	51
Fractured arm, collarbone, hand	Serious	45
Other head injury	Serious	42
Severe head injury, unconscious	Serious	34
Deep cuts, lacerations	Serious	33
Whiplash or neck pain	Slight	18
Fractured pelvis or upper leg	Serious	16
Shock	Slight	11
Internal injuries	Serious	7
Multiple severe injuries, conscious	Serious	7
Other chest injury, not bruising	Serious	6
Broken neck or back	Serious	5
Deep penetrating wound	Serious	5
Other injury	Serious	4
Severe chest injury	Serious	2
Multiple severe injuries, unconscious	Serious	2
Loss of arm or leg (or part)	Serious	1

Note: The table includes only casualties reported by police forces using the injury-based reporting system ‘CRASH’, this is around 63% of all casualties in collisions involving e-scooters.

A list of all police forces and system they use can be found in severity adjustments section.

9. Background information

“E-scooters” are not one of the designated vehicle types collected in a STATS19 reportable collisions, as such they would be classed as other vehicle and can currently only be identified using a free text field. However, from 2024 this will change as a result of the implementation of the latest review of STATS19, with further details in our update on the review implementation.

The “Other vehicle” category was introduced in 2011 to replace the previously collected vehicle types Other motor vehicle and Other non-motor vehicle. A free text field was introduced at the same time to provide insight into what other vehicles were being recorded.

The description is mainly used by the department to assess whether new vehicle types need to be captured and to reclassify existing “Other vehicles” into one of the defined vehicle types. For example, even though mobility scooters have their own category, a number of these end up in the other category each year and are reclassified by DfT.

The free text field cannot be automatically validated in the same way as the designated vehicle type data, and therefore not as robust as published vehicle statistics. Therefore, using this text does require some investigation and validation. Unfortunately, the word scooter is not exclusive to one type of vehicle and depending on the context used, it could be used to describe a variety of vehicles including some motorcycles (those that have a step-through frame and a platform for the rider’s feet to rest on), mobility scooters and traditional stand on scooters. Stand on scooters can also have different methods of propulsion (petrol, electric or physical effort). Guidance has been issued to all forces to ensure they capture more than just the word ‘scooter’ in the free text description when recording this.

It should be noted that a considerable percentage of non-fatal casualties are not reported to the police. Non-fatal casualties for e-scooter users are amongst the most likely to be under-reported in road casualty data since they have no obligation to inform the police of collisions. This should be borne in mind when analysing and interpreting the data.

More information about the strength and weaknesses and definitions can be found in reported road casualties in Great Britain: annual report, 2023.

10. Feedback

We welcome further feedback on any aspects of the department’s road safety statistics including content, timing, and format, via email to the road safety statistics team.

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13. Contact details

Road safety statistics

Email roadacc.stats@dft.gov.uk

1. E-scooter casualty figures for years before 2022 have been revised slightly. This revision has resulted in changes of under 10 casualties per year and does not affect any of the trends or patterns shown in this factsheet. ↩