Emergency departments at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel and Lübeck have treated roughly 1,200 patients for e-scooter injuries since 2020, with cases peaking at 285 in 2025 before a further 40 were recorded in the first half of 2026. Men accounted for more than 60 percent of patients, and nearly half of all incidents were solo falls with no other road user involved, while alcohol or substance use played a role in roughly one in six cases.
Young adults aged 18 to 35 made up the largest group at the German hospitals, though the majority of severely injured riders treated at Austria's Kepler University Hospital in Linz are aged 16 to 18, where trauma surgeon Axel Mechtler says he receives one seriously hurt rider per week on average.
Across Austria, 1,125 e-scooter riders were injured in road traffic accidents in the first half of 2025, and two people died.