E-scooter accident in Hamburg: woman critically injured!

E-scooter accident in Hamburg: woman critically injured!

A serious accident involving an e-scooter driver has once again sparked discussion about road safety in Hamburg-Nord. According to n-tv, according to a witness, the e-scooter driver drove through an intersection around midnight despite the red light and collided with a car. The woman suffered life-threatening injuries and had to be taken to a clinic immediately. No information is yet known about her age.

The frequency of such accidents in Hamburg is alarming. While a total of around 860 e-scooter accidents were counted in 2022, there had already been 155 such incidents by the end of April 2023, as NDR reported. Interest in e-scooters remains unbroken, but their popularity also brings with it significant risks. It is often the drivers themselves who cause accidents: a fifth of all accidents occur under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Sensitive numbers

The latest accident adds to worrying statistics. In a period of just three years, from 2020 to 2023, 538 seriously injured e-scooter riders were recorded in the Trauma Register of the German Society for Trauma Surgery. of these, 78% were male, while the average age was 44 years. The engineer describes that heads and faces are primarily affected, with frequent serious injuries such as subarachnoid hemorrhages and skull base fractures.

What is particularly frightening is the low rate of helmet use among e-scooter riders. Only 3% of those injured were wearing a helmet at the time of their accident, with studies showing that wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of serious head injuries by up to 70%. In many European cities, preventive measures are already being taken, while in Germany the current strategy relies on users' sense of responsibility.

Political discussion and measures

Political calls for more security precautions are getting louder. The CDU in particular is calling for more controls in order to reduce the high number of accidents. In connection with this, a possible helmet requirement for e-scooter drivers is also being discussed. The SPD recommends wearing at least a helmet, while the CDU traffic expert prefers education. The Senate, on the other hand, sees the sensitization through bans as an explanation for the stagnating numbers of incorrectly parked e-scooters.

It remains to be seen what measures will be taken to reduce the number of accidents. In cities like Paris and Oslo, different strategies are already being successfully pursued to increase road safety.