Hospitalisations involving e-scooter riders up 234 per cent in a year

Key points

• Electric scooter injuries have increased 234 per cent in the past year.
• Hospitalisations increased from 28 in 2019/2020, to 128 in 2020/2021 and 427 in the past year. 
• More than 80 per cent of injuries recorded were caused by the electric scooter rider falling off the scooter. 
• A ride-share trial in the Melbourne, Port Phillip and Yarra municipalities has meant the number of e-scooter riders on roads has increased dramatically.

Injuries to people riding electric scooters in Victoria have increased by 234 per cent in the past year, leading to at least 427 hospital admissions, mainly due to broken bones.

Data from Monash University’s Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit shows a steep rise in hospitalisations due to injuries among e-scooter riders, jumping from 28 in 2019-20 to 128 in 2020-21, and 427 in the past year.

An electric scooter rider in Melbourne’s CBD. Credit:Scott McNaughton

The data was collected from Victorian public hospitals with 24-hour emergency departments. It found men aged 20 to 24 were the most likely to be injured.

Broken bones were the most common injury, with 148 fractures recorded, followed by dislocations, sprains and strains.

Electric scooters have become increasingly common in Melbourne since 1500 hit the streets of the Melbourne, Port Phillip and Yarra municipalities in February as part of a one-year share scheme trial with operators Neuron and Lime.

Neuron has recorded 1.4 million trips in Melbourne since the scheme launched, while Lime has recorded 900,000 trips.

Electric scooter hospitalisations most commonly occurred on a road, street or highway, with 250 injuries in the past year taking place there, compared to 47 in homes.

The most commonly injured body parts were the head and neck, followed by elbows, wrists and knees.

Of the 427 people presenting to Victorian hospitals in the past year, 138 were admitted.

There were no fatalities in hospitals from electric scooters incidents, but the figures did not account for any deaths that might have occurred before an electric scooter rider reached hospital.

A person died riding an electric scooter in February after hitting a car in Narre Warren and another person died in September after they lost control of a scooter on a speed hump in Pascoe Vale.

More than 80 per cent of injuries recorded were caused by the rider falling off the scooter, while 7 per cent occurred when the rider hit a car.

Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit analyst Jane Hayman said the increase in injuries reflected the increasing popularity of the scooters, particularly since share scheme started.

“Hospitalisations have more than doubled, but they are mainly minor injuries,” she said.

Hayman said while the spike in hospitalisations was significant it needed to be put in context.

“It’s a large amount [of hospitalisations] but compared to other transport injuries it is not,” she said.

“There are more than 10,000 cycling injuries per year that go to hospital.”

Five scooter riders were injured after hitting a pedestrian, but the Monash figures do not include pedestrians who were injured after being hit by an electric scooter.

Ben Rossiter, executive officer of advocacy group Victoria Walks, said that was a gap in the data.

“Technically, the e-scooters should be on the roadways, not the footpath, but we know there is a lot of non-compliance, which is a concern,” he said.

“Particularly for older walkers, people with disabilities, families with kids, when e-scooters are breaking the law [by riding on footpaths] it makes it harder for them to move about. It is not just crashes, it is fear of the risk of injury,” he said.

Victoria Police road policing command acting assistant commissioner Justin Goldsmith said police actively enforce e-scooter rules, with 744 e-scooter infringements issued across Victoria from December 2021 to October 30 this year.

“It is unsurprising that there has been a significant spike in e-scooter hospitalisations as prior to this period, all e-scooters were prohibited on Victorian roads,” he said.

Goldsmith said privately owned e-scooters continue to be prohibited on public roads, bike lanes and footpaths.

“Under current legislation, only e-scooters supplied by the approved trial operators in the approved local government areas are permitted for use.”

A Department of Transport spokeswoman said both Lime and Neuron Mobility reported that more than 99.99 per cent of rides had been incident-free since the trial began.

“There have been no fatalities on trial e-scooters in Victoria,” the spokeswoman said. “The safety of all road users is our priority and we will continue to work with Victoria Police, participating councils and e-scooter operators to ensure everyone is doing the right thing and staying safe during our trials. We encourage all road users to act responsibly and look out for others.”

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the City of Melbourne was participating in the state government trial to work out the safest way for e-scooters to be used on city streets and roads.

“We’re confident that Melburnians can use e-scooters responsibly and support Victoria Police’s ongoing campaign to better educate riders about the rules to help keep the community safe,” she said.

A spokeswoman for Neuron said its e-scooters were “purpose built” for safety, including geofencing technology that controlled where e-scooters could be ridden and parked, and how fast they could travel.

“E-scooters – particularly rental e-scooters which have a reduced risk profile – account for a very small percentage of overall hospital presentations,” she said.

Will Peters, director of government relations at Lime, said the company was focused on keeping riders and pedestrians safe.

“When it comes to shared e-scooters, Melbourne is seeing high ridership and low safety incidents, which is exactly what we want to see and a credit to the state government and councils for the work they’ve put into this program,” he said.

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