Scootering Safely

Scooters are everywhere and so are scooters in accidents, some serious. Kids are also making scootering more dangerous again by searching for plans online that allow them to remove components to make the scooters faster.

John Duncan, COO at road safety charity, BRAKE, says, “Some devices are being modified to bypass the built-in speed limiters so they can travel much faster than they were designed to.

“What concerns us is that many young people see these kinds of modifications online and may not realise how much the risk increases when those safety controls are removed.”

Nearly two in five e-scooter crashes occur between 9pm and 5am, when visibility is lower and intoxication rates are higher, highlighting urgent need for proactive, accessible safety education.

Australia’s first national school-based e-mobility education program, BRAKE Driver Awareness, is expanding nationwide to teach students how to ride safely and recognise key risk factors in the community.

“Where we see challenges is around behaviour and awareness. These devices can accelerate quickly and move differently to bikes, so riders need to think carefully about speed, space and the people around them. That is exactly the kind of judgement we are trying to build in young people through education,” says Duncan.

The adoption rate of e-scooters has surged, with 3.6 million Australians using them in a single year alone. While the devices have quickly become a popular option for commuting and recreation, their rapid uptake has exposed a growing safety gap for young riders.

In Queensland, more than five people per day are now presenting to emergency departments with e-scooter injuries, with 2,000 riders seriously injured in 2025, up from 1,626 in 2024 and 1,380 in 2023. The numbers show a clear and worrying trend: injuries are climbing in line with the devices’ popularity.

In Victoria, nearly half (47%) of e-scooter injuries involve children aged 10 to 14, despite laws prohibiting riders under 16.

In fact, young people are bearing the brunt of e-mobility injuries, with e-bike accidents the most common among teenagers aged 15 to 18, highlighting how older adolescents are navigating increasingly powerful devices without the experience or awareness to ride safely.

The data points to a worrying gap in supervision, regulation, and education, with awareness of risk factors lower among young Australians. The dangers of drink driving are well documented, yet international research shows alcohol is involved in around two in five e-scooter injuries (42.9%). Night-time riding is another widely recognised risk, yet a Queensland hospital audit found that nearly two in five (39%) e-scooter crashes occurred between 9pm and 5am, when visibility is lower and intoxication rates are higher.

To tackle the rising e-scooter incident rates, BRAKE has developed Australia’s first national school-based e-mobility education program, aimed at students aged 11 to 15. Delivered across two classroom lessons, the BRAKE E-Mobility Program equips students with practical skills for riding safely: recognising hazards, managing peer pressure, understanding speed and stopping distances, and riding predictably in traffic. The program also teaches visibility, environmental awareness, legal responsibilities, and real-world consequences.

The program also focuses on attitudes and behaviours, encouraging students to think about how their riding impacts others in shared spaces. This includes respecting vulnerable members of the community, and understanding that simple actions, like slowing down or using a bell as a courtesy warning, can make shared environments safer for everyone.

“During adolescence, the part of the brain that seeks reward develops faster than the part responsible for impulse control, making speed and peer approval especially thrilling in the moment. Our program helps students pause, think, and make choices that protect themselves and others,” adds Duncan.

The program complements BRAKE’s broader road safety initiatives, including its core program for students. The need for early road safety education is significant: road trauma remains the leading cause of unintentional injury death among Australians aged 15 to 24, accounting for around two-thirds (60%) of these fatalities.

Risks are even greater in regional and remote areas, where almost two-thirds (62%) of fatal road crashes occur outside major cities, where longer travel distances and higher-speed roads are more common. To address the increased likelihood and severity of crashes in regional areas, BRAKE’s Rural and Remote module is tailored for higher-risk regional roads.

What began as a program for three local high schools has now reached more than 90,000 students across over 190 Queensland schools. Following these strong results, BRAKE is expanding nationally, with programs launching in Victoria and South Australia, and Northern Territory schools already committed.

Visit www.brake.org.au to learn more.

Image by christina9999