Just as in Flanders and Brussels, the number of e-scooter accidents is also rising in Wallonia. And although drinking and riding don’t mix, according to the Walloon Road Safety Agency (AWSR), more than one in ten e-scooter users (12%) involved in an accident tested positive for alcohol.
Precisely because of the significant increase in accidents involving e-scooters in the southern part of the country, the AWSR is launching a new awareness campaign.
Primarily an urban phenomenon
Wallonia is clearly a “catch-up region” when it comes to shared mobility: it is the only region where the number of shared e-scooters is growing, while Brussels has drastically cut back but still recorded more rides.
This may explain why accident figures are also rising relatively faster there, precisely because there are fewer experienced users or they are unaware of the essential rules for riding an e-scooter – according to ASWR, this is the case for three out of four users.
Consequently, the increase in the number of e-scooter accidents in Wallonia – where no distinction is made between shared and privately owned e-scooters – is significant: last year, 460 e-scooter users were involved in accidents there, compared to 296 in 2024, a 55% increase.
Of all the victims, 425 sustained minor injuries, 30 were seriously injured, and 5 people lost their lives.
Nearly one in two victims was under the age of 25. More than 90% of these accidents occurred in urban areas, often in large cities: Liège, Charleroi, Namur, Mouscron, and La Louvière accounted for nearly half of these accidents (44%).
Risk of an accident increases with alcohol consumption
Furthermore, more than one in ten e-scooter riders involved in an accident test positive for alcohol. To put these figures into a broader perspective: alcohol is a factor in approximately 8% to 10% of injury accidents in Belgium (at least one driver who tested positive). On weekend nights, this percentage rises to more than 40%.
Most major scooter-sharing providers now offer a built-in alcohol test in their app. This isn’t a breathalyzer test via the smartphone, but rather a cognitive reaction test.
ASWR also points out that many private users purchase more powerful models or modify their vehicles to increase their performance – two well-known phenomena – which can increase the risk of an accident and the severity of injuries in the event of a collision.
For all these reasons, ASWR is launching an awareness campaign today, which includes 4 videos that will also be featured on TikTok. The campaign highlights, among other things, the importance of wearing a helmet – 42% of users say they never wear one; since September, helmets have been mandatory only for e-scooters traveling faster than 20 km/h, so in principle only private e-scooters – as well as visibility and the risk associated with alcohol consumption.
