Irish Examiner View: A tricky road ahead for electric scooters

New research in the UK has shown that scooter accidents have tripled between 2020 and 2021

New research has claimed that more than half of people injured in e-scooter accidents were not wearing helmets. 

It was inevitable there would be an increase in popularity for the e-scooter as a mode of personal transport. It can be represented as a green alternative in an era where petrol costs are high, and there is a general antipathy towards the internal combustion engine both from town planners and eco campaigners. They are of particular appeal to the young, with machines retailing for less than €1,000 and some of them reaching a nifty speed of 25 kph. The starting age for ownership is 16. No test is required; no licence, and no insurance.

What could go wrong? Doctors think they know. E-scooter crashes cause catastrophic injuries, with one death and 24 serious collisions so far in 2022, with the dark winter months still ahead. Eoin Sheehan of the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore said they “have a weapon-like impact on the human body, such is the force and impact involved”.