Source: Radio New Zealand
By Irra Lee, Morning Report producer/reporter
File photo. Young people the most affected by rise in e-scooter injuries. RNZ / Dom Thomas
Newly-released ACC data shows claims for e-scooter injuries are on the rise, with children and young people among the most affected.
It’s prompted an ED doctor to call for helmets to be made compulsory while riding.
ACC figures provided to RNZ indicate that of all new claims involving an e-scooter from the start of 2026 to early February, about half are for people under the age of 25.
Between 2022 and 2024, about 40 percent of new e-scooter-related claims each year were for under 25s, rising to 47% in 2025.
Part of the rise is being driven by large increases in claims for 10- to 14-year-olds. The age group recorded 203 new e-scooter claims in 2022, tripling to 605 by 2025.
The figures show the number of new e-scooter injury claims for under 25s last year had risen 85 percent since 2022. For all age groups, new claims involving the scooters have climbed 55 percent in the same time period.
ACC said it relied on people’s own reports of their injuries for this data, and that it counted claims using the date it was registered rather than when the injury occurred. The data also didn’t describe the severity of injuries, how they occurred, and who was affected (for example, the e-scooter rider or a pedestrian).
RNZ has asked Health NZ for further details on the injuries.
Dr Stuart Dalziel, a paediatric emergency medicine specialist at Starship Hospital, told RNZ the numbers married up with what he’d been seeing.
When they turn up to ED, Dalziel said some people’s injuries could be “relatively easy to sort out”, though others could be debilitating if it affected the head or face.
“For a small number of people, these e-scooter injuries are life-threatening.”
ACC’s data shows soft tissue injuries to muscles, ligaments, or tendons – like sprains or bruises – are most common when it comes to e-scooter incidents. This is followed by lacerations and punctures, then fractures and dislocations.
Dalziel said New Zealand should consider making helmet use compulsory with e-scooters. Currently, they are only “strongly recommended”.
He also called for a public health campaign encouraging safe scooting – similar to messages for safe cycling – and separating scooters from other road users.
“Obviously, scooters can do damage to pedestrians when they’re going at 30 kilometres an hour, but also if you fall off your e-scooter into a car.”
National MP Catherine Wedd is leading a campaign to take e-scooters off footpaths and into dedicated bike lanes whenever possible, with changes expected by mid-2026.
Current NZ Transport Agency rules say they can be used on the footpath or the road, though not in designated cycle lanes that form part of the road.
The responsibility for safety was a balance between individuals’ responsibility and the rules the Government set, Dalziel said.
“If you think about cycling as an example, we actually have a lot more controls around cycling than we do around e-scootering. The controls that we actually have around cycling do not stop people enjoying their bikes and going out and riding their bikes on the road.
“So it makes common sense that we actually have those same compulsory safety messaging around e-scootering,” he said.
“With regards to the e-scootering companies, there are some companies that have helmets attached to the e-scooter. I think that really is a good example of what companies can do in order to improve the safety of these scooters, but not all companies do that.”
Dalziel said it was difficult to know why young people were increasingly over-represented in ACC’s e-scooter claim statistics.
“I think predominantly, the cause is probably that people are using them more – and this will be both people using the scooters you can rent, but also people buying these products,” he said.
“We saw a spike in injuries when e-scooters were introduced to the country in 2018. That settled quite dramatically with the lockdowns associated with Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021, and it’s steadily increased since then.”
ACC paid out almost $16 million for scooter-related injuries in 2025, an increase of about 10% on the year prior. Just over $1.2 million had been paid out in January 2026.
The cost of all road injury claims – which include active, private, and public modes of transport – was $766 million last year.
ACC said e-scooter riders could consider these tips:
- If you’re new to e-scooters practice in a quiet place away from traffic and other people until you get to grips with them
- If you’re pretty experienced, give the scooter you’re using a little test before travelling on it – is it as responsive as it should be, does it slow down/brake well etc.
- Start slow and ease into it – they can go pretty fast/gain speed quickly
- One person at a time
- Wear a helmet
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
