E-scooter deaths are rising as police take less action against them, coroner warns after girl, 14, killed in minibus crash
22 December 2022, 14:56
A warning about e-scooters has been issued after a 14-year-old girl died when she crashed into a minibus.
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Fatima Abukar was riding the vehicle on the pavement in Green Street, East Ham when she collided with the minibus.
She fell beneath its wheels and suffered "catastrophic injuries", the East London senior coroner Graeme Irvine said.
He warned that e-scooter crash deaths had more than doubled since police started confiscating fewer of them.
Mr Irvine has told the home secretary, Suella Braverman, and Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to take action to stop more people dying while using them.
Mr Irvine, carrying out an inquest into Fatima's death on March 21, said she had not been wearing safety equipment.
"Since 2019 here have been eight recorded fatalities involving e-scooters in London and 31 in the country at large," Mr Irvine said.
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"At the time of her death Ms Abukar was riding a privately owned e-scooter on a public highway.
"Despite the ubiquity of such devices on London's streets, riding them on public roads is unlawful," he added, noting that some manufacturers and retailers do not need tell customers about illegal use.
"Whereas approximately 4,000 unlawfully used scooters were seized by the Metropolitan Police Service in 2021, only 1,100 were confiscated in 2022.
"The reduction is attributable to a change in policy introduced in November 2021.
"An inverse correlation exists between the rate of legal enforcement and the rate of deaths caused by e-scooters."
The amount of deaths in the first half of 2022 were more than double the amount seen in the same period in 2021.
Legal trials of rented e-scooters on roads are taking place across England. It has been extended until May 2024.
A Department for Transport report released this month said users reported that most crashes involved a new rider.
"Overall, users felt safe on a rental e-scooter but saw them as less safe than other modes of transport, except mopeds and motorcycles," it said.
"For example, in comparison to bikes, 29% of users reported feeling less safe on an e-scooter while 20% reported feeling safer on an e-scooter, according to the user survey.
"Users suggested that dedicated cycle or e-scooter lanes, better road conditions and fewer potholes would be most likely to make users feel safer."
