In previous years, the number of accidents involving electric scooters has been very few in Sweden. But over the past two years, the number of electric kicks has increased significantly, not least in our cities through various rentals, and hence the number of accidents.

In 2017, there are six accidents registered, in 2018 15 occurred, and for 2019 there were 490 accidents.

- I believe, above all, that this is due to the introduction of electric scooters in the big cities and that accessibility has increased, says Åsa Forsman, senior researcher in road safety at VTI in Linköping. 

This is how young people think about the risks of electric scooters:

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Up to now, there has not been so much research into accidents involving electric scooters. Therefore, on behalf of the Swedish Transport Administration, VTI has now investigated the accident statistics for 2019.

- We have compared the accident statistics with electric cyclists, and then we see that electric park cyclists are more frequently injured at night - especially on Friday and Saturday. Many times a helmet is missing at the time of the accident. There are also very few elderly people, aged 55 and up, who have been injured on an electric scooter, says Åsa Forsman.

What does the trend look like - will the accidents continue to increase?

- It is hard to say. It will depend a great deal on how popular the electric scooter bicycles will be in the future, and how profitability will develop in the companies engaged in leasing, says Åsa Forsman.