Serendipitous National Party Government has ‘failed to exploit potential’ in rental e-bikes leading to only one sixth of the casualties per head of other parts of the UK

From BBC England this morning, the above, and:

The cost of damages paid out to people injured in the UK by e-scooters and e-bikes has topped £110m, the BBC has learned. It is only seven years since the first claim was made, with the biggest individual payout being for £20m. Such claims have also led to premiums for drivers being pushed up, to effectively cover the bill for insurers. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c05y9pe5p1jo

I’ve been unable to get a breakdown for the 4 UK nations or to find a comparative report for Scotland.

I have, however, been able to compare the number of casualties involving e-bikes.

In 2024, the UK, saw 1 390 casualties.1

With 8% of the population, you might then expect around 111 casualties in Scotland.

There were 18, one sixth of the level.2

Why might this be?

I suppose weather will be a factor but the lack of legal government-backed trials in Scotland, even regulated, with speed limits, geofencing, insurance, and age checks have not increased exposure in high-traffic urban areas here, keeping casualties down here.3

Has the Scottish Government been criticised for a lack of rental trials and keeping casualties down? Indeed. The Scotsman, no surprise there:

So, the SNP Government can be accused by some, well all of the media, for not supporting this exciting new initiative and in so doing keeping us all safe. They’ll need to work on the wording for that one.

Sources:

  1. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-e-scooter-factsheet-2024/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-e-scooter-factsheet-2024
  2. https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202500485456/
  3. https://zagdaily.com/micromobility/five-years-of-uk-e-scooter-trials-what-are-the-lessons-learned/

Discover more from Talking-up Scotland

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

2 thoughts on “Serendipitous National Party Government has ‘failed to exploit potential’ in rental e-bikes leading to only one sixth of the casualties per head of other parts of the UK”

  1. I read an article other day about children using e-scooters in Ireland and the serious if not fatal injury rate is very high. It’s available at the Irish Times to read.

    In Edinburgh the LabCons council have re-introduced E-bikes for hire (last time they were wrecked and/or stolen so they removed the scheme).

    The problem is the folks using them do not wear helmets, and they have no idea at all about road use as a bicycle user!

    When I used to cycle as my form of transport I knew the highway code, but almost came a cropper 99% due to car and lorry drivers not taking enough care. Very scary and it took me a while to realise if I was killed it most likely would not be my fault as a cyclist, which made me extra cautious.

    The folks on E-bikes, and many are tourists, have almost run me over at pedestrian crossings, and they travel fast, they have no idea how to use the roads, though I have to say they do seem to not use pavements thankfully.

    It does seem e-scooters are potentially deadly…jeezo.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  2. WhoTF is Alastair Dalton and what are his credentials. I’m sure it’s easy to rent one of these things to try out for an hour. Come back to us once you’ve used one for a year then we might listen.

    other than that, save your drivel for England.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.