If you live in a British city there’s a high chance you’ve had a near-miss with an e-scooter – but dozens have unfortunately been less lucky.
Exactly 57 pedestrians were injured after being hit by e-scooters in Britain last year with 13 of them suffering serious injuries, the Department of Transport has said.
The majority of victims whose age is known were aged over 40, including nine people who were older than 70.
Eight children under 10 were also hurt by the two-wheeled vehicles.
Other road users getting injured in e-scooter collisions in 2020 included 22 people in vehicles, and 21 cyclists.
The figures also show that one e-scooter user was killed and a further 383 were injured.
Two-thirds of this group were aged under 30, including 123 who were 20-29, 118 who were 10-19 and two who were under 10.
But it’s not just young people: some older e-scooter riders were also among the casualties. Three were aged between 60 and 69 and one was at least 70 years old.
The figures do not distinguish between incidents involving privately-owned e-scooters and rental e-scooters.
It is illegal to use private e-scooters on public roads and pavements in the UK but they are often seen whizzing through cities after becoming increasingly popular.
In just one week in June, the Metropolitan Police confiscated 507 of them following ‘proactive patrols’ across all of London’s boroughs.
The popularity of e-scooters has in part increased due to dozens of legalised rental schemes which have popped up in urban areas since July 2020 as part of government trials.
There are however concerns about their safety, with the Guide Dogs charity calling for the sale of private high-speed e-scooters to be banned.
It has also expressed fears their use means some people with sight loss are being forced to change their route, or avoid independent travel altogether.
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