Prof. Meike Jipp, Director of the DLR Institute of Transport Research, German Aerospace Center

Abstract: Micromobility was expected to change urban mobility to the better especially in urban contexts. E-scooters, for example, were anticipated to replace at least shorter routes that were originally driven by cars. In addition, e-scooters should make public transport systems more popular, because the nearest bus stop or train station would be easy and fun to reach. However, concerns were risen as well. E-scooters would require too much space that should be free for cyclists and pedestrians. Moreover, their usage would be not easy and it might thus be dangerous to drive with them. Two years after their introduction in Germany, statistics are available that demonstrate especially the need to consider safety of e-scooters. 

Within this presentation, accident analyses and statistics are presented that relate the safety of e-scooters with other means of transportation taking into account the different average milages driven. These analyses impressively demonstrate serious safety issues: The risk of an accident with an e-scooter is twice as high when compared to the one with a bike. If one additionally considers the lengths of the routes driven, the accident risk is five times higher for e-scooters. On this basis, means are introduced and discussed than have the potential to significantly improve safety of e-scooters in urban contexts.