More than 230 pedestrians were injured with one killed after being hit by
an e-scooter in the last year - while 12 riders died in crashes

One pedestrian was killed and more than 230 injured after being hit by an
e-scooter in the last year, new figures released by the Department for
Transport show.

Out of 234 collisions, on 60 occasions the pedestrian was either seriously
hurt or injured.

Amongst those injured was Linda Davis, 71, who tragically died after a
14-year-old driving a privately-owned scooter at 20mph on a pavement hit
her in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire last June.

Mrs Davis, who was known as Lou, succumbed to the fatal head injury six
days later.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to
causing death by dangerous driving in March, but was spared jail by
Nottingham youth court instead being handed a 12-month referral order and
being banned from driving for five years.

In total 1,446 people were harmed by e-scooter crashes last year, including
those driving the vehicles.

Of those hurt, 1,106 were e-scooter riders who had been hurt in the
crashes, 233 pedestrians and 47 cyclists.

Out of those 12 people killed in crashes, 11 were e-scooter riders who died
following a collision.

This was a large jump from 2020 when 484 people were hurt from crashes with
only one person dying.

The number of pedestrian collisions resulting in injury has increased
slightly since 2021's figure of 229.

However, the figure has increased fourfold since 2020 when there were only
57 incidents.

The data has been released by the Department for Transport as part of their
provisional data on road collisions for 2022. The confirmed report will be
released by September 2023.

Private e-scooters cannot be legally ridden on roads or pavements in the UK
but have become a common sight, particularly in urban areas.

Trials of rental e-scooters on roads in dozens of towns and cities across
England are ongoing.

Steve Gooding, direction of the RAC Foundation, said: 'As the e-scooter
trials rumble on these figures show that the vehicles are in frequent use -
and apparently all-too frequent collisions - across the whole country. Real
life is very quickly getting ahead of legislation.

'As ministers ponder the future of these devices, it is important councils
are better funded to keep highway surfaces up to scratch so all road users
- not least those on two wheels - don't fall foul of the rash of potholes
which remain far too common.'

The figures come as two thirds of Britons want the vehicles banned from
public roads, while three-quarters think a driving licence and insurance
should be a requirement for using one, a survey by the National Accident
Helpline found.

In 2019, Britain recorded what is thought to have been the country's first
fatal electric scooter accident.

Channel 4 and YouTube star Emily Hartridge, 35, was involved with a
collision while riding an e-scooter near her home in Battersea, South
London.

She was the first of 31 lives claimed in the last four years after being
involved with an e-scooter.

On top of that thousands have been injured since 2019 and according to an
Association of Paediatric Emergency Medicine report in the British Medical
Journal, the average age of those treated for injuries involving electric
scooters is just 12-years-old.

<https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12123599/More-230-pedestrians-injured-one-killed-hit-e-scooter-year.html>

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