Overview

• A Björn‑Steiger‑Stiftung study pooled police files, Berlin emergency‑department data and TU Berlin simulations to analyze more than 10,000 cases from 2021 to 2024, finding about half of severe or fatal crashes were single‑vehicle events.
• Police attributed alcohol as the main cause in roughly 43% of those solo crashes, with collisions against curbs, bollards and signs accounting for about 32% of incidents.
• Researchers say typical 8‑inch wheels make scooters unstable and urge at least 10‑inch wheels, a moped‑level permit that would lift the minimum riding age to 15, and tougher alcohol enforcement.
• The federal cabinet has approved higher fines for sidewalk riding and carrying passengers (to €25) and a turn‑indicator requirement for new scooters from 2027, plus stronger local parking controls, pending Bundesrat approval.
• Head and facial injuries are common but severe brain injuries are rare, leading the study to reject a general helmet mandate even as it recommends helmet use; most injured riders are young men, with some under the legal age of 14.