E-bike and e-scooter safety: what regulators and fire services report.

United States: the CPSC's micromobility report (April 2026)

A US Consumer Product Safety Commission staff report by James Tark of its Directorate for Epidemiology, "Micromobility Products-Related Deaths, Injuries, and Hazard Patterns: 2017 to 2024", covers e-bikes, e-scooters and self-balancing scooters (hoverboards). It is a staff report and has not been reviewed or approved by the Commission itself.

• Deaths. CPSC staff are aware of 533 micromobility deaths from 2017 to 2024, rising from 5 in 2017 to 135 in 2024. Of these, 310 were associated with e-bikes, 206 with e-scooters and 17 with self-balancing scooters. The 2023 and 2024 counts may still change because death certificates arrive late.
• Main hazards. Motor vehicle crashes and loss of control were the top hazards for both e-bikes and e-scooters.
• Battery fires. 19 e-bike deaths (in 13 incidents), 15 e-scooter deaths (11 incidents) and 11 of the 17 self-balancing scooter deaths (5 incidents) were associated with lithium-ion battery fires. Of 145 in-depth CPSC investigations of e-bike incidents reported from 2017 to 2024, fire was the most common problem (106).
• Emergency department visits. CPSC estimates about 698,500 visits linked to these products from 2017 to 2024: about 380,000 for e-scooters, 163,300 for self-balancing scooters and 155,200 for e-bikes.
• 2024 special studies. Of 88 investigated e-bike injury cases, 24 percent involved a motor vehicle crash, 40 percent of riders wore a helmet and 15 percent were travelling at 20 mph or more. Of 173 e-scooter cases, 35 percent involved rental scooters and 18 percent of riders wore a helmet.

E-bike riders in road death statistics

• Netherlands. Statistics Netherlands reported in April 2026 that at least 41 percent of the 281 cyclists killed in 2025 were riding an e-bike, and that eight fat-bike riders died.
• United States. NHTSA has counted riders of bicycles with motors as pedalcyclists since 2022, but its fact sheet (July 2026) does not give e-bike deaths separately. Before 2022 motorised bicycles were coded as motorcycles, and since 2022 crashes involving only motorised bicycles are no longer captured in its fatality system at all.
• Great Britain. The DfT's 2024 and 2025 pedal cycle factsheets give no separate e-bike figures.

Great Britain: e-scooter casualties (DfT, 30 July 2026)

The Department for Transport recorded 1,377 collisions involving e-scooters in Great Britain in 2025, up from 1,312 in 2024, with 1,477 casualties, 1,162 of them e-scooter users. Ten people were killed in collisions involving e-scooters in 2025, all of them e-scooter riders, against six in 2024; the 2025 factsheet gives no rider breakdown for the 2024 figure. 484 people were seriously injured (adjusted) in 2025. The casualties included 47 pedal cyclists and 235 pedestrians.

The DfT describes most e-scooters in collisions as illegal private vehicles. Government rental trials run in about 20 areas, and in 2023 an estimated 350 collisions involved trial e-scooters against 949 involving private ones. Its 2024 e-scooter factsheet, as summarised in search results, said it publishes no casualty rates for e-scooters because there are no reliable figures for e-scooter trips or mileage. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service states that privately owned e-scooters cannot legally be used on public roads or in public spaces, because they are motor vehicles that cannot currently be insured, while rental e-scooters in official trials can be used by riders aged 16 or over with the right licence.

Battery fires, as fire services report them

London Fire Brigade (28 January 2026)

LFB said two people died in such fires in London in 2025, five since 2023, and that none of the five owned the e-bike involved. It attributes the fires to lithium-ion battery failure, linked to poor build quality, counterfeit parts, damage, overcharging or the wrong charger; to conversion kits and chargers; and to products bought online, new or second-hand, that do not meet UK safety standards. It has asked the government to bring forward consultation on secondary legislation under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act, which received Royal Assent in summer 2025, and has asked food delivery platforms to warn their riders about battery fire risks. Its #ChargeSafe campaign began in 2023.

FDNY, New York City (16 December 2025)

The Fire Department of the City of New York reports deaths from lithium-ion battery fires in the city of 18 in 2023, 6 in 2024 and 1 in 2025 up to its year-end release. It counted 268 lithium-ion battery fires in 2023 (90 of them non-structural, FDNY's term) and 277 in 2024 (135 non-structural). These cover lithium-ion batteries generally, as FDNY counts them. Gothamist reported 133 outdoor lithium-ion fires for 2024 (read from a search summary); FDNY's own figure is used here. On 22 July 2026 FDNY said its fire marshals had found that a lithium-ion battery charging in a kitchen caused a basement fire in Queens on 26 June 2026 in which a 48-year-old man died, the city's first lithium-ion battery fire death of 2026.

UK-wide (OPSS, 29 January 2025)

The Office for Product Safety and Standards reported almost 200 fires and 10 deaths in the UK in 2023 involving e-bikes or e-scooters, and 21 product recalls and 29 Product Safety Reports on these products since 2022. On 27 February 2025 it advised buying e-bikes from reputable sellers, using parts the manufacturer recommends and getting professional help for conversions and repairs.

The battery standards, the UK's 2024 statutory guidelines, New York's certification law and the CPSC's 2026 proposed battery standard are on the e-bike batteries and fire safety page. What counts as an e-bike in law is on e-bike classes and laws, and regulators' recall notices are on recalls.