In almost half of all fatal electric scooter accidents in Sweden, the rider was under the influence of alcohol. These fatal accidents mostly occurred in the evening or at night, and in all cases helmets were not being worn. This is shown by a new study by Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology and the Swedish Transport Agency. The study also notes that most fatalities occur on privately owned electric scooters rather than rentals.
Researchers analyzed all fatal accidents involving electric scooters, electric bicycles, and conventional bicycles that occurred in Sweden between 2016 and 2024.
While alcohol is a contributing factor in fatal crashes for all three types of vehicles, the numbers stand out for electric scooters. Among fatal e-scooter crashes, 44 percent of riders were under the influence of alcohol, compared to 27 percent of e-bike riders and 13 percent of cyclists.
More specifically, blood alcohol levels were shown to be high in all three groups. The median blood alcohol content of electric scooter riders who were under the influence of alcohol was 1.8 permil. This can be compared to the legal limit for blood alcohol concentration when driving a car in Sweden. This is 0.2/mil, above which it is considered a DUI, and 1.0/mil in the blood is considered a serious DUI.
“Alcohol intoxication is a common problem for all road users, but it appears to be particularly acute among e-scooter riders. Not only were many of the e-scooter riders who were fatally injured, but their intoxication levels were very high,” said Marco Dozza, professor of active safety and road user behavior at Chalmers University of Technology and senior researcher on the study.
The deceased was not wearing a helmet
The study also showed that helmet use in fatal crashes was very low. None of the fatally injured people riding electric scooters were wearing helmets. Additionally, only about 25% of people who died riding e-bikes or bicycles were wearing a helmet.
The most common cause of death in all groups was head injury.
“The numbers speak for themselves. The head is the part of the body most susceptible to catastrophic injury, and since so few people wear helmets, we have a clear opportunity to save lives. Helmets aren’t a guarantee, but they dramatically improve your chances, so we should do everything we can to encourage their use,” says Rahul Rajendra Pai, a PhD student at Chalmers University and lead author of the study.
“I think many people don’t understand the dangers of using an electric scooter under the influence of alcohol and think that electric scooters don’t go that fast,” says Marco Dozza. “But especially when you’re drunk, hitting a stone in the road or hitting a small hole in the ground is enough to cause you to lose your balance, because alcohol slows down your perception and reactions. Not wearing a helmet can make it even worse.”
Different collision patterns for each vehicles
The study included 204 fatalities, and researchers identified clear differences between the three types of vehicles in terms of rider and crash patterns.
In fatal accidents involving regular bicycles, the median age of the cyclist was 71 years. Accidents often occurred on weekdays, and most of them were collisions with cars.
A fatal electric scooter crash looked different. The median age of riders was 47.5 years, and most of the accidents were single-vehicle accidents that occurred on weekends, evenings, and nights.
According to the researchers, the results point to the need for measures and regulations that are adapted to different types of vehicles.
“A typical bicycle accident in which an elderly cyclist is struck and killed by a car during the day may require a completely different approach than a typical fatal e-scooter accident in which a young rider, drunk and alone, crashes at night,” says Marco Dozza.
Most common fatal accidents involving private electric scooters
Nearly 9 out of 10 alcohol-related e-scooter fatalities occur in private vehicles. Public debate and regulation has largely focused on rental electric scooters, with operators introducing measures such as speed limits and night restrictions. However, these measures do not affect privately owned electric scooters.
Researchers say rules and measures can prevent electric scooter crashes to some extent. For example, Marco Dozza is leading ongoing research into how today’s sensor technology in rental electric scooters can be used to detect reduced riding performance in real time.
“If a vehicle can recognize that the lidar is not in control, it can take various steps before a collision occurs. Such intelligent interventions can save lives and are within reach,” he says.
At the same time, he emphasizes that rules and sensor technology alone cannot solve the problem.
“The big challenge in electric scooter riding is social norms and rider behavior, and this will not go away with regulation. Training is key to understanding how the vehicle should be handled and what it can and cannot do.”
Ricardo Fredriksson, Senior Advisor for Vehicle Safety at the Swedish Transport Agency and co-author of the study, agrees:
“Alcohol remains a major problem for road safety in Sweden. Approximately 20% of road fatalities involve alcohol. Our research shows that the number of alcohol-related deaths on electric scooters more than doubles to 44%. We are working on developing technology to counter driving electric scooters under the influence of alcohol. It is also important to always wear a helmet and only use vehicles that do not exceed the legal speed limit,” he says.
Learn more about the research
The study, “Three modes, three profiles: Characteristics of fatal accidents involving electric scooters, electric bicycles and conventional bicycles in Sweden” Safety Research Journal. The authors are Rahul Rajendra Pai and Marko Dozza from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and Rikard Fredriksson from the Swedish Transport Agency and Chalmers University of Technology. This study was funded by the Swedish Transport Agency as part of the SIMT project (grant 2022/32014).
Summary of results
The study analyzed 204 fatal accidents involving electric scooters, electric bicycles and conventional bicycles in Sweden between 2016 and 2024, using data from the Swedish Transport Agency’s fatal accident database.
Fatal accident caused by electric scooter. Eight of the 18 fatally injured riders, or 44 percent, were under the influence of alcohol, with a median blood level of 1.8 per mil. No one was wearing a helmet, the accidents usually occurred on weekends, evenings, and nights, and were primarily single-vehicle crashes. The median age of fatally injured riders was 47.5 years.
Fatal accident caused by electric bicycle: 26.5%, or 9 out of 34 fatally injured riders, were under the influence of alcohol, with a median blood level of 1.24 per mil. 26.5% wore a helmet. The accidents mainly occurred on weekdays, and half of them were collisions with cars. The median age of riders involved in fatal accidents was 71.5 years.
Fatal accidents involving bicycles: 12.5 percent, or 19 of the 150 fatally injured bicyclists, were under the influence of alcohol, the median blood level was 2.0 per mil, 25 percent were wearing helmets, the accidents mostly occurred on weekdays, and usually involved collisions with motor vehicles. The average age of fatally injured riders was 71 years old.
More information about electric scooters and safety
- According to a recent study by the Swedish Transport Agency, 6,624 people were injured and seven died in electric scooter collisions in Sweden in 2025. This is a 38% increase from 2024. Almost half of the seriously injured e-scooter riders were under the age of 25, and about two-thirds were men.
- In Sweden, there is no blood alcohol limit for electric scooters, but there are regulations that prevent you from driving an electric scooter if you are unable to do so safely.
- Although there is no common EU law regarding alcohol and electric scooters, several countries treat electric scooters as motor vehicles in their alcohol laws. This applies, for example, to Finland, France, Italy and Spain, where the blood alcohol concentration limit is 0.5. per mil.
- In Sweden, there is a law that requires children and young people under the age of 15 to wear a bicycle helmet when riding an electric scooter. However, there is no common EU law regarding wearing a helmet when riding an electric scooter, and rules vary widely from country to country.
- According to a 2025 Chalmers study, electric scooter crashes in Sweden are primarily due to rider behavior.
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Chalmers University of Technology
Reference magazines:
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsr.2026.05.001
