Reports from New York and Paris have the same conclusion: Shared E‑Scooters are Safe
Safety comes first and always at Lime. It guides how we design and upgrade our vehicles, develop rider education and training, and work with cities to improve how streets are built to prioritize people over cars. We believe any incident is already one too many. It’s why we incorporate a safe systems approach to all aspects of our service, comprising engineering, education and enforcement, with a goal of constant improvement in all we’re able to control.
For things we cannot, we share data transparently with cities to help inform their decisions on safety and mobility. We use this data to encourage policies in line with Vision Zero, including street designs that prioritize the most vulnerable road users, and regulations that are proven to reduce the potential for car crashes. This approach has helped improve micromobility safety over time, and it’s why we consistently find e-scooters to be safer than- or as safe as other commonly used transportation options in cities.
We recently published a report on the safety of our e-scooter program in Paris which found e-scooters are safe for riders and other road users. These findings mirror another report published this week by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) on its e-scooter pilot program, finding that there were no fatalities across 1.3 million trips. Based on findings in its report, NYC DOT decided to expand their program and make it a 5 year term with an option to renew for 5 additional years. In the NYC DOT press release, Transportation Commissioner, Ydanis Rodriguez, said,
“...this pilot met and exceeded its ambitious goals around safety, mobility, and equity. And now we are ready to do even more for more communities.”
Our safety report on the Paris e-scooter program is consistent with NYCDOT’s findings. Based on 16 million electric scooter rides in Paris from 2020-2022, Lime’s newly published Paris Safety Report found that over 99.99% of Lime electric scooter trips had no safety incidents. Lime electric scooters also present little danger to other road users, like pedestrians. Of the .01% of safety incidents, only 2% of incidents (29 in total) involved pedestrians, the vast majority of whom required no medical attention.
The conclusions from these two reports highlight that shared e-scooters are a safe transportation alternative that cities can use to achieve their Vision Zero and mobility goals. We appreciate New York’s data driven approach to making safer streets that are accessible to all New Yorkers.
New York City Department of Transportation Report
NYCDOT’s report concluded that shared e-scooters were widely used and safe, with zero fatalities reported among over 1.3 million trips. For crashes that were reported, the majority resulted in minor injuries or no injury at all. There were only six crashes requiring admission to a hospital. Furthermore, the report found that 80% of crashes did not involve a collision with another motor vehicle, pedestrian, or bicycle, meaning that the majority of shared e-scooter crashes involved only the rider.
The NYCDOT report also found that shared e-scooter riders prefer to ride in bike lanes, safely away from pedestrians. Streets with bike lanes made up only 8% of street segments in New York City’s service area, but represented 14% of shared e-scooter trips.
The safety of the shared e-scooter program in New York is part of the reason why New York City has decided to expand their program. The city wants to expand convenient, affordable, and sustainable mobility options for New Yorkers while ensuring a safe program for riders, pedestrians, and other street users.
Lime Safety Report For Scooters In Paris
In October 2022, Lime published a safety report on the safety of Lime electric scooters in Paris. Based on 16 million electric scooter rides in Paris from 2020-2022, Lime’s newly published Paris Safety Report found that over 99.99% of Lime electric scooter trips had no safety incidents. This also aligns with a report in Libération that found there have been no fatalities on Paris cycle paths in 2022, nor have any pedestrians been killed by a cyclist.
In addition to being safe for riders, Lime electric scooters also present little danger to other road users, like pedestrians. Of the .01% of safety incidents, the majority (79%) were falls involving only Lime users. Only 2% of incidents (29 in total) involved pedestrians, the vast majority of whom required no medical attention.
In contrast, cars and trucks account for the majority of fatal incidents involving vulnerable road users, namely pedestrians (94% according to ONISR Paris data), cyclists (71% according to the European Commission) and Lime electric scooter users (70% according to Lime Paris data). The fatality rate for Lime electric scooters in Paris (5.36 per 100 million trips) is equivalent to that of bicycles (5.48 per 100 million trips), and far less than mopeds (39.7 per 100 million trips).
Conclusions
As both of these reports conclude, shared e-scooters are a safe form of transportation. Cities can feel confident using shared e-scooters programs to expand mobility options in their communities and achieve their Vision Zero goals. The primary findings from these reports are:
Over 99.99% of electric scooters trips are incident free.
Single vehicle falls make up the majority of crashes and crashes with other road users are rare.
Crashes with motor vehicles account for the majority of traffic fatalities for vulnerable road users like pedestrians, bicyclists, and e-scooter riders.
E-scooter riders feel safer and prefer to ride on streets with bike lanes.
Lime is committed to helping cities achieve their safety, mobility, and equity goals. Therefore, we are transparent with our safety data with the goal of making streets safer for all road users.
