Electric scooters might be making the roads safer for cyclists, according to a new study from the University of Bristol.
The research suggests that areas with e-scooter rental schemes have seen a 20% drop in bicycle collisions since the scooters were introduced.
The study, published in Injury Prevention, looked at police records of road crashes across the UK from 2015 to 2023.
Researchers compared areas that introduced e-scooter schemes to those that didn’t. The e-scooter programs were launched after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, traffic crashes went down in general because fewer people were out due to lockdowns. But after restrictions were lifted, crash rates went back to normal in most places—except for bicycle collisions in e-scooter areas, which stayed low.
In fact, serious or deadly crashes involving bicycles remained 20% lower than expected in areas with e-scooter programs, even after life returned to normal.
And when researchers looked at both bicycle and e-scooter crashes together, they still found fewer incidents. That means the decrease in bike accidents didn’t happen just because scooter riders were having more crashes instead.
Experts say this supports the idea of “safety in numbers.” This theory suggests that when more people use bikes or scooters, drivers get used to seeing them and drive more carefully around them. The more cyclists or e-scooter riders on the road, the safer it becomes for everyone.
This is the first big study to test this theory using real-world data in what’s called a “natural experiment,” meaning researchers observed what happened in everyday life without changing anything themselves.
Professor Yoav Ben-Shlomo from the University of Bristol said, “We were happy to see the safety in numbers effect confirmed. If more people feel safe cycling, they’re more likely to give it a try—and that’s great for public health.”
Zoe Banks Gross, a cycling instructor in Bristol, agreed. “This is good news,” she said. “But we still need better streets that give more space to cyclists and e-scooters.”
Brian O’Kelly from the Bristol Road Club added, “When drivers see lots of cyclists and scooters, they get used to them. They’re less likely to be annoyed or careless, which makes the roads safer for everyone.”
This research could encourage more cities to support micromobility options like e-scooters and bikes—not just for convenience, but for safety too.
