State police recorded 414 road accidents involving electric scooters in 2023. In 70% of cases, the rider or passenger sustained injuries and in one in 20 cases the injuries were severe. In 87 cases, the rider of the electric scooter was under the influence of alcohol. In 152 more cases, victims who had been riding the scooter under the influence went to a medical facility without notifying police.
Electric scooters have already been involved in 29 road accidents involving 19 people by mid-April this year, according to the State Police.
“As the new spring season resumes, we can observe that there have already been the first road accidents involving electric scooter riders. This means that some road users have forgotten or simply don't know how to properly navigate road traffic on an electric scooter in a way that doesn't put themselves or others at risk, [..]” – said the head of the State Police response administration Juris Jančevskis.
To reduce the number of violations and injuries involving electric scooters, the State Police in cooperation with Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital and electric scooter rental company Bolt have launched the “fastest way to a hospital” information campaign. With campaign material in the media, social networks, and urban settings, the State Police will inform the public about accident and injury statistics, typical injuries, and share real victim experience stories, showing that aggressive driving under the influence and breaking regulations is the quickest way to get to the hospital.
State police are promising increased control of electric scooter traffic.
Doctors have also been raising alarms for a long time about how much and how severe the injuries from electric scooter accidents are. Head injuries that are life-threatening and can have lifelong consequences for human health are particularly serious.
Scooter hire company Bolt has rolled out various solutions to promote the safe use of electric scooters and will also post campaign materials on its app. The company has also blocked profiles of several dozen aggressive rider users since the start of the season, preventing the rental of the scooter.
The campaign is financed from the resources of the Latvian Motor Insurers Bureau.
