Public health: E-scooter riders face higher brain and organ injury risk than motorcyclists and cyclists (Scientific Reports)

E-scooter riders in England and Wales may face a higher risk of brain and internal organ injuries than motorcyclists and cyclists, according to a study in Scientific Reports. The authors recommend increasing e-scooter safety through measures including mandatory helmet legislation, stricter speed limits, and e-scooter design improvements such as deformable handlebar grips and enhanced braking.

E scooters are used in urban areas throughout the world, but reliable data on injuries and risks has been limited.

David Bodansky and colleagues analysed data from the National Major Trauma Registry for 15,247 patients — including 580 e-scooter riders, 7,027 motorcyclists and 7,640 pedal cyclists — with moderate-to-severe traumatic injuries from 18 cities in England and Wales between 2020 and 2022. 87.9% of e-scooter riders were adults. They found that adult e-scooter riders had a 3.5 times higher risk of traumatic brain injury, a 1.5 times higher risk of internal organ injury, and 3.2 times higher risk of artery or vein injury than motorcyclists. These risks were also 1.7, 1.4, and 1.7 times higher respectively compared to pedal cyclists. However, the fracture risk for adult e-scooter riders was 20.0% lower than motorcyclists and 10.0% lower than pedal cyclists. Helmet use was only documented in 5.9% of e-scooter riders, compared to 75.7% of motorcyclists and 45.0% of pedal cyclists. The authors suggest that this could increase brain injury risk among e-scooter riders, in addition to e-scooter design increasing the risk of riders falling head-first over handlebars during collisions.

Additional analysis of 23,193 self-reported e-scooter collisions and near-misses found that male riders had a 36% lower collision risk compared to female riders and that female riders were 2.1 times more likely to report severe injuries. The authors propose that this could be due to most e-scooters being designed for male body proportions and previously reported findings that female riders are more likely to ride on footpaths and unpaved surfaces.

The authors speculate that multiple factors may influence the injury risk of e-scooter riders, including helmet use, e-scooter design, urban infrastructure, and rider behaviour. They recommend further research to investigate these factors and the effectiveness of potential interventions to increase e-scooter safety. 

• Article
• Open access
• Published: 06 August 2026

Kungwengwe, G., Gach, M.W., Gowda, S. et al. E-scooter riders sustain more head and internal injuries than motorcyclists and cyclists in England and Wales. Sci Rep 16, 23470 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-59829-5

© 2026 Springer Nature Limited. All Rights Reserved.   
 

More Press Releases