Figures released by the road safety institute Vias show that the number of accidents involving e-scooters resulting in injury to at least one person increased by 2.9% in 2024. During last year 541 people were injured in e-scooter accidents in the Brussels-Capital Region.
Although last year’s figures were up on those for 2023, they are still lower than the figures for 2022. In 2022 there were 732 e-scooter accidents that resulted in injury. In the summer of that year striker rules, such as a ban on the use of e-scooters for young people under the age of 18, came into force.
In the country as a whole there were 1,825 accidents involving e-scooters that resulted in injury. This equates to an average of 5 accidents a day and is a rise of 13% on the figures for 2023. Vias suspects that its figures are an underestimation of the true picture as it believes that many incidents go unreported.
A study by Vias has found that many people in Belgium are unaware of some of the most important rules governing e-scooter use. For example, 44% of those surveyed were unaware that it is illegal for children under the age of 16 to drive an e-scooter. Meanwhile, 35% of those surveyed didn’t know that it is illegal to carry a passenger on an e-scooter.
Vias warns that “It is impossible to drive an e-scooter correctly with 2 people on board”.