999 calls to treat e-scooter injuries up 540%
AMBULANCE call-outs to incidents involving electric scooters have shot up by 540 per cent in two years, figures show.
Some riders were injured while drunk or had been in collisions with cars. Others were pedestrians mown down in the street.
Treatment for head injuries also surged as many riders do not wear helmets – and at least three people died.
Incidents jumped from 75 in 2019 to 480 in the first eight months of 2021 – an increase of 540 per cent.
The figures affect ambulance trusts covering dozens of towns and cities south of the Border where e-scooters are used in Governmentbacked trials.
These scooters are limited to 15.5mph and permitted only on roads or cycle lanes.
However, most of the incidents are believed to involve privately owned e-scooters.
More than 840 were counted in total since 2019, according to figures obtained by the Daily Mail through Freedom of Information requests. Only a third of trusts released data meaning the true figure will be much higher.
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS), which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire, saw one of the biggest surges.
Incidents went from 43 in 2019 to 165 last year and 249 during the first eight months of this year. The majority happened between 5pm and midnight and involved those aged under 40.
The most common type of injury was ‘head injury and trauma’, with 149 recorded.
Mark Ainsworth-Smith, a consultant and senior medic at SCAS, said his trust has dealt with incidents where privately owned e-scooters have been modified to go at speeds of more than 40mph. He added: ‘The issue seems to be a growing problem, often affecting teenagers and young adults.
‘The injuries we see are no different to those we see in motorcycle accidents.’
Earlier this year, a Mail investigation revealed how thugs have used e-scooters to carry out hundreds of crimes including robberies, assaults and even a drive-by shooting.