Planned Helmet Requirement for E-Scooters and E-Bikes: ÖAMTC Wants Change

The draft lacks precision, explained ÖAMTC traffic engineer David Nosé. "In e-scooter accidents, only 14 percent of all casualties are aged 13 to 16," Nosé said at a press conference.

E-Bikes: "Only two percent of casualties were 13 to 14 years old"

For e-bikes, the proposal is even further from reality, it was said. "Only two percent of casualties were 13 to 14 years old - here we see by far the highest numbers in the age group of 55 to 67 years." Nosé spoke on Thursday of "a misjudgment of the issue." "The current proposal is actually just discrimination against young people," added Bernhard Wiesinger, head of the ÖAMTC advocacy group.

For e-scooters, from the ÖAMTC's perspective - given the dramatically increasing number of accidents - a helmet requirement without age restriction is indispensable. For e-bikes, Wiesinger and Nosé advocated for a "legal reminder" in the form of a helmet requirement without penalties - modeled after the bicycle helmet requirement for children. There, the wearing rate is nearly 100 percent. Reference was made in this context to a decision by the Supreme Court from April 2025, according to which in the event of any compensation claims - regardless of the question of fault - a reduction would occur if no helmet was worn.

Increasing Trend in Accidents with E-Bikes and E-Scooters

According to the ÖAMTC, in 2024, 2,721 e-bike and 2,102 e-scooter riders were involved in accidents in Austria, with 27 people losing their lives. Even more cases are expected for 2025: In the first half of the year, 1,127 e-scooter users were involved in accidents - 31 percent more than in the same period in 2024. Among cyclists, there were 4,729 injuries and 30 deaths, half of them involving an e-bike. There was talk on Thursday of an increasing trend.

The ÖAMTC also referred on Thursday to a survey from March and April with around 15,000 individual observations: While over 52 percent of e-bike users in urban areas and almost 80 percent on leisure routes protect themselves with a helmet, it is only just over ten percent of e-scooter riders. An analysis of the accident statistics for the years 2023 and 2024 confirmed this difference in helmet-wearing rates, it was said.

(APA/Red)

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