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DEKRA research project with universities in Marseille and Montréal

High risk of injury when falling from an e-scooter – helmet offers some protection

Mar 20, 2025 Safety on the road

A bicycle helmet can protect the head to a certain extent even during an e scooter crash. Nevertheless, the risk of injury remains high. This is the result of an international research project conducted by DEKRA Accident Research together with two universities.

  • Direct impact absorbed, but still high loads on neck and brain
  • First experimental study on head kinematics and helmet in e-scooter fall
  • Results also raise questions regarding standards for helmet testing
At the DEKRA Crash Test Center in Neumünster, Germany, two different accident scenarios were simulated at 20 km/h. In each case, the e-scooter's front wheel hit a curb – in one scenario at a right angle, in the other at 55 degrees. The crash test dummy was wearing a helmet in one series of tests, not in the other. During the crashes, the biomechanical loads that affect humans in such a scenario were measured at various points on the dummy. Researchers from the Université Gustave Eiffel in Marseille (France) and the École de Technologie Supérieure in Montréal (Canada) have evaluated the results together with DEKRA Accident Research.
“In essence, it can be said that the direct impact with the head is cushioned by the helmet. At the same time, the forces acting on the neck and brain due to the rotational movement of the head remain high,” explains Andreas Schäuble, a biomechanics expert at DEKRA Accident Research. ”This means that helmets can reduce the severity of injuries, which clearly justifies their use. However, they cannot in all cases prevent brain injuries in such impact scenarios.”
The study is the first to experimentally examine the head kinematics and efficacy of bicycle helmets in an e-scooter crash. With a total of six individual crashes at the same speed level and with a single helmet model without a MIPS system, it cannot be fully representative of all conceivable scenarios. “However, with this series of tests, we have created a good starting point for further research,” says Schäuble. ”As in previous projects, the real crash tests provide an excellent basis for developing and validating simulation models for further investigations.”
The crash test results also raise questions about the norms and test standards for bicycle helmets. “In today's helmet tests, only the direct impact energy, i.e., the linear acceleration, plays a role. As we have shown with these crash tests, angled impacts and rotational movements should also be taken into account,” recommends the DEKRA accident researcher, especially since these loads are not only relevant in e scooter crashes, but also in falls from bicycles.
The scientific publication on the tests (in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention) can be found here .
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