In view of the increasing number of accidents involving e-scooters, helmets have recently become mandatory in Paris. However, only private e-scooters are allowed there; the rental scooters that are widespread in Germany have been banned since 2023.
Accidents with e-scooters are also a growing problem in Germany: According to the Federal Statistical Office, the police registered almost 16,500 e-scooter accidents nationwide last year - an increase of around 38 percent compared to the previous year.
But there is no requirement to wear a helmet in this country. In an interview with tagesschau24, trauma surgeon Michael Zyskowski describes what consequences this can have and why prevention is also important.
tagesschau24: If someone has a serious accident, one of the things they end up on is your operating table. What type of injuries do you deal with the most?
Michael Zyskowski: There are two different factions of accidents. On the one hand, we have the sober riders during the day who come with classic injuries like those from cycling. They break their collarbone, their radial head, their wrist because they are still able to react and try to catch themselves.
The second entity of injury is night driving, drunk driving, who may be inexperienced. The reaction speed is no longer the same as when sober. And even at the slightest obstacle they fall head over heels, fail to roll over and land really hard with their heads on the asphalt. They break their faces, get severe brain injuries, break their heads and have brain bleeds.
“The e-scooter is inherently unstable”
tagesschau24: Why are e-scooter drivers so much more at risk than, for example, motorcyclists or cyclists? This is what a study in Great Britain says.
Zyskowski: The problem is that the e-scooter is inherently unstable. We have relatively small wheels, a very small footprint and a very high center of gravity.
The next thing is: I learned to ride a bike when I was three or four years old. The e-scooter suddenly appeared in the wild in 2019 and we have no experience with it. Out of nowhere we have a device standing below us that travels at 20 km/h, has a very high center of gravity, has small wheels that don't roll easily over small obstacles like a large bicycle and as a result I fall.
Compared to a motorcycle, you have to say that I don't see anyone riding a motorcycle without a helmet. This means that the head alone is protected differently.
“A helmet mitigates the consequences of an accident”
tagesschau24: Motorcyclists are almost completely protected on their face by their helmet. What kind of helmet do e-scooter riders need?
Zyskowski: We know that the helmet per se does not prevent the accident. But it mitigates the consequences of the accident. That is, the biomechanics of the helmet prevent the severe brain injury, the severe skull fracture. That's a huge plus point of the helmet. Of course, the normal bicycle helmet is not designed to protect the face. Here's the problem, not everyone has a full face helmet.
Nevertheless, the bone alone can be easily healed. This can also be treated surgically in the event of a midfacial fracture. And we know that it will heal either way. However, it is really difficult for us to assess the long-term consequences of the brain injury per se, the severe traumatic brain injury, the cerebral hemorrhage. That's why every helmet is a help in this case.
tagesschau24: What else could be done preventatively? For example, there are safety courses when riding a motorcycle.
Zyskowski: We should make it clear to drivers, especially young people, that you have to practice this beforehand, you have to master the device. You should stick to basic rules like driving with both hands, not driving with one hand. After the thing is unstable, I can't give a signal with one hand. That's why, for example, the solution with a mandatory turn signal is an incredibly good one because I'll have both hands on the handlebars.
“This is a serious form of transport”
tagesschau24: What role can rental providers play?
We can monitor everyone who rents a rental device extremely well. This means we can see how many kilometers the scooter has already covered. When it has a certain number of kilometers, only then does the thing drive at 20 km/h and before that we only let it drive at 15 km/h. This would be a solution to significantly reduce the impact and speed on the head that could occur in an accident.
A souvenir like the one the German Traffic Council is considering introducing a driving license is relatively likeable. You have to see how this correlates with the legislature and can be implemented.
And next, a very dedicated rental option: If you rent, you have to watch an instructional course for half an hour, for example. What are the traffic rules? What do I have to adhere to? Very few people know that they are only allowed to ride on the bike path or on the street. Very few people know the traffic rules. If I rent something when I'm 18 and don't have a driver's license, I still have to follow the rules. This is a serious means of transport, like a truck, like a car.
Here we really have to go into the training and further education of people so that they know clearly how I should behave and what needs to be done. And training should also be done correctly and well.
