Micro-mobility association publishes first-of-its-kind incident data involving shared e-scooters

Credit: TIER Mobility

TIER Mobility has announced that Micro-Mobility for Europe (MMfE), the European Union (EU) association of shared micro-mobility providers, has released the first-of-its-kind factsheet on incident data involving shared e-scooters in Europe. 

By bringing transparency on the aggregated incident data of its six founding members (Bird, Bolt, Dott, Lime, TIER and Voi) in 2021, MMfE seeks to inform road safety policies that reduce incident risks for vulnerable road users, such as e-scooter riders, cyclists and pedestrians, in close collaboration with the EU and local authorities.

Based on over 240 million shared e-scooter trips, accounting for over 461 million kilometres travelled, the collected incident data demonstrates that the overall risk of incidents requiring medical treatment is 60 per cent lower than comparable data from 2019. In 2021, an average of 5.1 injuries requiring medical treatment with shared e-scooters per million km had been registered.

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In addition, the data shows that fatality rates on shared e-scooters are twice as low as private e-scooters. Although, with the lack of a standardised incident framework in the EU, which MMfE calls for, shared e-scooter and private e-scooter incident data is most often combined in incident reporting. 

Overall, MMfE observes a similar risk of fatal incident for shared e-scooter riders as for cyclists. 

As motorised vehicles, in particular cars and trucks, remain the biggest source of road traffic fatalities in the EU, the micro-mobility industry association concludes a set of recommendations to improve the safety of vulnerable road users: 

• Investment in protected infrastructures
• Harmonise incident reporting standards in the EU
• Acknowledge e-scooter riders as vulnerable road users
• Encourage rules enforcement by local authorities.