The advent of increasing and more serious scooter crashes has led to a major insurer commissioning new research into the causes.
RACV will partner with the Royal Melbourne Hospital to better understand e-scooter injuries across Victoria and look at why injuries occur and the incidents which cause them.
It follows alarming research done by the University of Melbourne that found one in three of the fatalities caused by scooters were children and were with other vehicles.
These are listed under pedestrian deaths in the road toll but the research also highlighted the insufficient data as to the safety of mobility devices.
Information gap
RACV Head of Policy James Williams said it was concerning that we don’t have a robust understanding of why e-scooter injuries are occurring.
“Hospital admission notes and comprehensive interviews with patients injured while riding an e-scooter will provide us with more detailed knowledge about crash causation,” Mr Williams said.
“RACV wants everyone to be safe on the road, no matter what mode of transport they choose, including e-scooters and this research will help us understand the risk profile of what is a relatively new mode of transport.”
Dr Elyssia Bourke, the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH)’s Director of Emergency Medicine Research, will lead the research.
“The main aim of the research is to understand the number of e-scooter injuries occurring across Victoria and if there are any predictive factors such as user behaviour, road conditions, or the type of e-scooter being ridden which led to these crashes occurring,” Dr Bourke said.
“Information will be collected from across a range of sites in Victoria and the project will utilise a mix of research methods, including analysis of admission notes and interview-based data collection.”
The multi-centre project includes six sites including the RMH, Ambulance Victoria, the Alfred Hospital, the Royal Children’s Hospital, Grampians Health Ballarat and St Vincent’s Hospital and is intended to develop a detailed understanding of the epidemiological factors of e-scooter riders and the influence of these factors on e-scooter injuries.
Policy for safety
RACV is hopeful that the research will result in an improved evidence-base for policymakers, while laying the groundwork for hospitals to be able to capture e-scooter injury admissions in a meaningful and standardised format.
“This important research will help us to determine if there are any predictive factors that can be eliminated or reduced to help make e-scooters safer for not only riders, but for pedestrians and other road users. Results could also inform future education and awareness campaigns,” Williams said.
The research is anticipated to be published in 2026.