Electric scooters are more likely to cause serious brain injury in crashes than the notorious motorcycles, according to a new study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports journal on Thursday. Researchers from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, United Kingdom, relied on 38,440 records of data from across England and Wales between 2020 and 2024 to find that e-scooter riders had higher relative risks of suffering traumatic brain injury, internal organ injury, and vascular trauma than motorcyclists. The e-scooter injuries also disproportionately impacted kids and teens. The study notes that 16.2% of e-scooter injuries were in riders under 18, compared to 6.2% for motorcycle injuries and 8.9% for non-electric bicycles. These underage e-scooter riders also “accounted for a substantial share of craniofacial injuries,” the researchers note. Along with kids and teens, the study also found that women were at a higher overall risk of injury and severe trauma compared to male riders, which researchers partially blame on e-scooter design.
“Most e-scooters are also designed around male anthropometry, with handlebar height and centre of gravity placement demanding greater upper body strength, compounding these experiential and behavioural disadvantages,” the study notes.
