Scooter accidents in summer: data, causes and alarm from experts

Economical, easy to handle and sustainable, i electric scooters they were supposed to be the modern answer to the demand for zero-emission urban mobility. The hope was that, within a few years, they would free cities from traffic congestion and the nightmare of pollution; but as the medium spread, so did the number of accidents, dislocations and fractures. All it takes is a pothole, a slippery surface or a distraction while driving, perhaps to take a look at the map on your smartphone, to end up straight in the emergency room.

scooter accidents, the statistics

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The phenomenon of scooter accidents is prevalent in summer and on weekendsespecially on Fridays. The average profile of the users involved is: man, aged around 30. And to make the picture even more alarming is the data on the use of helmets, which are worn in less than 8% of cases. A set of elements that convinced experts to sound the alarm.

the study: numbers, traumas and impact in the emergency room

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The phenomenon was reconstructed for the first time with a systematic approach by an investigation by the Association of Hospital Orthopedists and Traumatologists of Italy (Otodi), published in Journal of Orthopedic Reports. The study analyzed the access to emergency rooms of two Roman trauma centers over the course of six years, from 2018 – when sharing services were authorized for the first time in Italy – until 2024. The sample includes 441 patients: 71% male, 70% aged between 15 and 35. 63% of injuries occurred between June and September. Only 36 of the 441 patients were wearing helmets at the time of the accident.

The most frequent clinical consequences concern trauma to the upper and lower limbsoften in the form of fractures or dislocations of the wrist, radius, clavicle, ankle and tibia, to which are sometimes added head and face injuries. 79% of cases require specialist evaluation.

Scooter accidents, prevention and rules

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According to Aci-Istat findings, electric scooter accidents are constantly increasing in Italy and lead to dozens of deaths every year. For this reason, the new Highway Code 2025 attempted to provide an emergency response with a series of obligations ranging from the use of helmets to speed limits, up to the obligation of insurance and license plates and the ban on the transport of passengers.

Measures which, according to the authors of the study, are however insufficient to reverse the trend. The reduction of scooter accidents, we read in the conclusions, requires a broader approach, which also involves urban infrastructures. Safer roadsfirst of all, it is one more assiduous maintenancea system of dedicated lanes and not least one greater individual responsibility of users.