Electric scooter accidents have doubled in four years

Accidents involving electric scooters in Switzerland rose from 342 in 2021 to 790 in 2025. Last year the Federal Roads Office recorded 152 serious injuries and three deaths.

The increase tracks the spread of the vehicle in cities. But the Roads Office points to a problem further upstream: many models in circulation do not meet Swiss type-approval criteria and should not be used in public areas at all.

A study published in Scientific Reports helps explain why these accidents so often end in hospital. The research analysed more than 15,000 people involved in medium to serious accidents across eighteen English and Welsh cities.

The comparison with other road users is stark. Scooter users face a risk of severe head trauma 3.45 times higher than motorcyclists and 1.74 times higher than cyclists. Internal abdominal injuries are also common, caused by the impact against the handlebar during a fall.

Helmets, and who pays the higher price

Helmets remain the exception. In the study sample, 5.9 per cent of those involved were wearing one. In Switzerland the share is lower still: in 2025, 30 of the 730 injured users were wearing a helmet, or 4.1 per cent. Helmets are not compulsory.

A separate analysis of around 23,000 collisions shows a difference between men and women. Women face a 36 per cent higher collision risk and injury rates that are double or more. The authors attribute the gap to scooters being designed around male body proportions.

The researchers' recommendations point in three directions. They call for compulsory helmets, extended to rental systems, stricter speed limits, and better design standards, with impact-absorbing handlebars and effective brakes.

The point the study raises also concerns regulators. As long as the vehicle is designed around a standard body and regulated lightly, the cost of accidents falls on those who ride it, and not on everyone equally.