E-scooter hospitalisations more than tripled since 2019

Teenage boys riding e-scooters drove a sharp rise in hospitalisations over the last five years, according to a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The number of boys aged 12 to 15 hospitalised following e-scooter falls saw a 15-fold increase between 2019/20 and 2024/25.

Boys in that cohort were four times more likely than girls to end up in hospital because of an e-scooter fall.

It also found hospitalisation rates increased for e-bike riders, but these data were harder to capture because of how these injuries were classified.

The report found e-scooter-related deaths increased over the last decade from seven in 2014/15 to 20 in 2024/25; however, the proportion of deaths was stable.

New codes introduced in July this year will help better differentiate between e-mobility devices such as e-scooters and e-bikes, the report said.

AIHW spokesperson Jacqueline Rek said the improved data will help better understand the risks surrounding e-mobility devices.

"Meaning these findings should not be interpreted as precise counts of injuries involving e-scooters or e-bikes alone," Ms Rek said.

What can improve safety?

E-bikes and e-scooters are now mainstream, with almost 1 million privately owned by Queenslanders, according to University of Queensland research.

Richard J Buning, who worked on the research, said improving safety was crucial given the growth.

"Every single year over the last five years, the growth in e-mobility device purchases has risen by 30 per cent," he said.

Dr Buning said unsafe devices such as over-powered e-bikes were among his chief concerns.

Last year, the federal government introduced stronger e-bike import standards similar to those in the European Union (EU), limiting access to unsafe devices.

"It's these unsafe, uncompliant, illegal devices that are creating much of the problems of people riding really fast on high-powered devices," Dr Buning said.

"But the safe, compliant devices, they don't provide more power than just a normal typical average fit person can provide."

Dr Buning highlighted Queensland as one jurisdiction in the country leading e-mobility device regulation.

People riding e-bikes in the state must be 16 or older and hold a valid driver's licence, including a learner licence.

Children aged between 12 and 17 (where 16- and 17-year-olds do not hold a driver's licence) will only be able to ride an e-bike or e-scooter with parental supervision.

Dr Buning disagreed with licensing e-bikes but praised the state's e-bike assurance scheme, which followed EU regulations.

It will mean from March 2027, all e-bikes in the state must have a compliance label to ride in public.

"So stopping those things from being sold and making sure that the public knows if they buy one of these devices that are uncompliant, they cannot legally ride it on the road," he said.

Dr Buning also suggested more targeted initiatives to better educate those who are riding unsafely, which was mostly younger people.

"Because the vast majority of people that use e-bikes are actually much older, 70 per cent of e-mobility device users are over the age of 40.

"That highly visible behaviour may be obscuring public perception of an overall quite inclusive and sustainable transport mode."