The new report has revealed that electric scooters have an incident rate of 0.66 collisions per million miles traveled, five times lower than bicycles, with 3.33 collisions per million miles traveled. Motorcyclists are at even greater risk of accidents with an incident rate of 5.88, nine times worse than electric scooters. Electric scooters are safe to ride if you know what to check before driving to avoid an accident (and you wear a helmet). It's also useful if you're familiar with driving before getting on a shared scooter, which is the focus of most studies related to accidents.
We're going to address the elephant in the room to the right of the bat, electric scooters are safe, period. Probably not so much, with the growing popularity of electric scooters, and in particular of shared scooters, there were some accidents that pointed to the electric scooter as a dangerous vehicle. Not much was said about the rider. There is no vehicle that is safe in the hands of a reckless and thoughtless driver.
Where and how you drive, at what speeds and safety equipment (or lack of it) is what makes things dangerous. Who the hell would go skiing or snowboarding without a helmet these days? Why would you ride an electric scooter without one? Treat both the electric scooter and yourself and other road users with respect and it will be as safe as any other vehicle. Learning to drive correctly and maintain balance when braking is key to controlling your electric scooter. The electric scooter is an economical, phenomenal and environmentally friendly transport tool.
It's here to stay, so let's get used to it and learn to drive safely. Are electric scooters safe? They can be, but only if they're well built, have certain key safety features, are well maintained and, most importantly, are well driven. Just as a bicycle needs regular maintenance to keep it running smoothly and avoid serious (potentially dangerous) problems on the road, your electric scooter will need a little care from time to time. Most electric scooters don't come with enough lights so you can see and be seen effectively on the road when it's dark outside.
Even people with years of experience get injured because you risk driving a vehicle (an electric scooter is a vehicle) that doesn't protect your soft human body in the event of an accident. Many electric scooters have built-in lights, but if yours only has reflectors or a rear light, invest in a decent set designed for bicycles. Laws vary widely from country to country and region to region, and some areas have not yet established laws for electric scooters or other electric vehicles. Along with the boom in the shared scooter market, there was an influx of scooter-related accidents, which often appeared very frequently in the media, calling scooters (and not cyclists) unsafe.
Some scooters have a lot of screws and cables exposed, while others are fully optimized, so getting to know your scooter and checking it before each trip is insurance against injuries. Keep in mind that using an electronic lock works when the vehicle being locked cannot be carried, and most electric scooters do. Most electric scooters come with an audible warning device, either an electronic horn or a mechanical bell. In most territories, the maximum speed of a legal electric scooter on the street is limited to 24 km/h, but there are exceptions.
Just like driving a car, you must understand traffic patterns, your own speed and trajectory, and how to combine them when you ride an electric scooter to stay safe and that comes with experience. The data on scooter sharing was undoubtedly the best source available, but it tells us less than you might think about electric scooters in general. .
