E-scooter rider placed in artificial coma after solo crash in Berlin

Solo crash in Marzahn-Hellersdorf

A 52-year-old man crashed his e-scooter on the evening of 7 August at around 19:40 on the Allee der Kosmonauten in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf district of Berlin. Police said no other people were involved. The rider hit his head on the ground and remained motionless where he fell.

A female cyclist who had been riding behind the man rushed to his aid and began resuscitation measures, continuing until rescue services arrived and took over his care. The 52-year-old was taken to hospital with life-threatening multiple injuries and was placed in an artificial coma, according to police.

String of serious Berlin accidents

The crash is the latest in a series of severe e-scooter accidents in Berlin in recent weeks. In mid-July, a 50-year-old man died in Kreuzberg after colliding with a car and being thrown several metres through the air. In early May, a 59-year-old woman died in Berlin-Mitte following a collision with a car; she was taken to hospital but succumbed to her injuries there.

In April, a 14-year-old girl did not survive a crash in Neukölln. She had been riding on a single e-scooter together with another girl of the same age when they collided with a car. The girl was resuscitated and taken to a clinic but later died. The other girl suffered serious head injuries.

National figures rising sharply

Police registered nearly 16,500 e-scooter accidents across Germany in 2025, according to the Statistisches Bundesamt, an increase of about 38 percent compared with the previous year. Measured against the total number of traffic accidents with injuries in Germany, cases involving e-scooter riders still accounted for only a small share.

The steep rise has unsettled experts, particularly because of the age profile of those involved. According to the Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft, 15- to 17-year-olds are the most frequent crash victims, and more than half of all those injured were younger than 25.

Growing fleet on German roads

The Statistisches Bundesamt recorded 1.4 million e-scooters in private households in 2023. In addition, more than 200,000 rental scooters are in use, predominantly in large cities. The combination of a expanding fleet and rising accident numbers has drawn attention to the safety profile of the vehicles, particularly in urban environments like Berlin where rental scooters are common.