Electric scooter accidents are down, but three riders are still injured every day.

BarcelonaEvery day, three electric scooter riders are involved in an accident. According to data from the Catalan Traffic Service, accessed by ARA, of the 1,283 riders involved in accidents in 2025, 72 suffered serious injuries. The vast majority of accidents occur on urban roads, unlike on interurban roads, where they are rare. However, although Three drivers involved in accidents every day may seem like a very high number.In the last year, this figure has decreased significantly.

In total, accidents involving electric scooter riders have decreased by 30% in one year. The peak of accidents was in 2024, when 1,838 injuries were recorded. In fact, that year was especially tragic: three fatalities were recorded – there were none in 2023 and none have been recorded in 2025 either – and serious injuries among users of this type of vehicle increased by 90%. While the 2025 data does not yet show as positive a trend as that of 2023, since there have been 18% more victims than then, the figure for serious injuries (72) this year is practically identical to that of 2023 and is even lower than that of 2024. The heaviest traffic of electric scooters is found in the city of Barcelona. According to the City Council's latest accident statistics, published in February of this year, accidents involving electric scooters also decreased by 8%, from 607 in 2024 to 559 in 2025. One of the big questions is what explains this decrease. In this regard, municipal sources point to the effect of the new regulations that came into force a year ago. Among the new measures is the mandatory use of helmets—which is directly linked to the reduction in serious accidents—and also the ban on riding on sidewalks—including bicycles; two restrictions that significantly reduce the likelihood of pedestrian accidents and collisions with obstacles. "These measures were taken precisely to raise awareness among users of personal mobility vehicles," say sources from the City Council. In fact, the tightening of regulations for electric scooters has not only been implemented in Barcelona. Several cities in the metropolitan area have opted in recent months to ban cycling without a helmet. Barcelona did so in February 2025, and Badalona, ​​Sant Just Desvern, Sant Adrià del Besòs, Esplugues de Llobregat, and Cornellà de Llobregat have also followed suit.

More checks and fines

The new regulations have also been accompanied by stricter controls on users of these vehicles. In Barcelona, ​​for example, 20,902 fines were issued to riders in 2025, equivalent to almost 60 fines per day. This represents a 34% increase in fines compared to 2024. The increase is mainly due to the implementation of penalties for riding without a helmet. In Cornellà, during 2025, the local police fined 935 scooter riders, 169 more than in 2024. Traffic sources also link the decrease in accidents involving electric scooters to the fact that they are now prohibited on public transport. This measure was taken in early 2023 after several incidents, including fires in various vehicles caused by faulty battery connections.

In its scooter barometer, the RACC (Royal Automobile Club of Catalonia) detected a stagnation in electric scooter use in the fall of 2025. "We're not experiencing a permanent boom. The study shows that there aren't as many new users these days; their numbers have remained relatively stable," notes Max Zañartu, head of Mobility projects at the RACC. He attributes this primarily to the ban on using them on public transport. Zañartu adds that scooter riders are becoming more experienced, although this doesn't always translate into greater responsibility behind the handlebars. According to the RACC study, one in four users runs a red light or fails to respect a pedestrian crossing. In fact, pedestrians have admitted in more than one survey by the same organization that scooters are what scare them most. Regarding accidents, in the RACC survey, the majority of users who have been involved in a scooter accident claim it was the fault of a third party, and in 22% of cases they point to pedestrians. Furthermore, a large proportion of accidents are due to collisions (65%) or hitting a pedestrian (19%).