With head injuries from e-scooter accidents on the rise, the coroner’s court is urging authorities to consider mandating helmets, saying an Auckland man’s death could have been avoided.

The coroner’s court is calling for helmets to be mandated for riders of e-scooters after ruling that the death of an Auckland man may have been prevented had he been wearing one.

Thiyagalingam Thanababu, 53, died in March 2021 from blunt force injuries days after falling off an e-scooter in the suburb of Sandringham. Thanababu, who was under the influence of methamphetamine and riding an e-scooter deemed to be in an unsafe condition, collided with a raised kerb and the base of a concrete power pole. 

While cyclists are legally required to wear a helmet, for those who ride e-scooters – both privately owned and via rideshare services like Lime – it is only officially “recommended” by Waka Kotahi.

A report into Thanababu’s death was published last week, with coroner Erin Woolley urging for tighter rules around using e-scooters.

“The tragic outcome of this case illustrates the importance of wearing a helmet when riding an e-scooter as a means of preventing severe head injury in e-scooter accidents,” she said in her decision. 

“Given the legal requirement to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle or a bicycle in New Zealand, because of the recognised benefit this has for reducing head injuries in the event of an accident, it seems that the same protective approach is warranted for the use of e-scooters and the use of helmets when riding e-scooters should be legally mandated, rather than recommended, for the same reason, that is preventing serious head injuries in e-scooter accidents.”

Had Thanababu been wearing a safety helmet at the time of his accident, he most likely would have survived, the coroner’s court noted. 

Three other e-scooter deaths are currently before the coroner’s court, including Ryan Taylor, a 30-year-old who died while riding an e-scooter in Eden Terrace in Auckland on January 29 this year. Taylor was wearing a bicycle helmet when the accident happened, and his mother has told media she believes a full-faced, motorcycle-style helmet may have saved him.

Waka Kotahi declined to comment for this story, noting that it did not have the ability to influence lawmaking. However, in its comments to the coroner, the agency said it would be “happy to work with” the transport ministry should it choose to legally mandate helmets. This echoed previous remarks by the agency, such as in a report from September last year that effectively allowed e-scooters to remain on New Zealand’s roads for another five years, where it noted “the potential mandating of helmet use for e-scooters is something which could be further explored”.

In its comments to the coroner, the the Ministry of Transport said it agreed helmets provided protection, but this had to be balanced against the possibility that their required use could be a “deterrent” to the uptake of active transport. “The current approach of encouraging, but not mandating, helmets strikes a balance between promoting safety and active travel, and a move away from private vehicles in urban centres which is vital for the health and safety of our communities,” the ministry said.

The government confirmed to The Spinoff that it had no plans to mandate helmets or adjust the current rules. Transport minister Simeon Brown reiterated that there was a “longstanding” recommendation from the transport agency that e-scooter riders wear head protection. 

“I am advised by the Ministry of Transport that they have received the latest coroner’s report about the death of a person who was operating an e-scooter,” Brown said in a statement. 

“The Ministry of Transport will review the report’s findings and provide me with their advice.”

In its report, the coroner’s court said if the ministry decided against mandating helmets for e-scooter riders, it should prioritise a safety campaign aimed at increasing their use. The report said NZ Police had been advised of the recommendation to legally mandate helmets and agreed with it, noting that “a further issue to consider is reducing the maximum speed applicable to
e-scooters, which could help to prevent further trauma and serious injury”.

There is no speed limit for e-scooters in New Zealand, which can legally be used on the footpath or the road, but their power output is restricted to 300W, which allows a top speed of around 35km per hour. Depending on local council rules, rental e-scooters often have geo-fenced speed limits set much lower than this. In the private sphere it’s much less controlled, however, with RNZ reporting last year that scooters with top speeds of up to 100km/h were being sold and ridden in New Zealand. A police serious crash investigation estimated Thanababu’s e-scooter was travelling between 36km/h and 41km/h at the time of the crash.

ACC data shows that about 12,500 people have lodged claims for injuries sustained while using an e-scooter between 2019 and 2023. While most of the primary injury types (such as soft tissue injuries, fractures and dislocations) have remained steady or decreased each year, concussions, while still making up a relatively small proportion of total injuries, have risen to a peak of 130 in 2023. Waka Kotahi’s September 2023 report, which analysed ACC data from October 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022, said “there is cause for concern about the number of head injuries per annum. The concussion rate runs at about 50 incidents each year. These injuries have the potential to be life-changing.”

As ACC’s data is compiled from information volunteered by claimants, it’s not known how many injuries were to those riding without a helmet, but a 2019 Auckland Hospital report on e-scooter injuries referenced by the Waka Kotahi report above noted a very low number of emergency department admissions had been wearing helmets.

There’s anecdotal evidence of public appetite for tighter regulations on e-scooter use. A Canterbury University paper from 2019 showed that safety topped the list of practical reasons for not using an e-scooter. 

However, transport officials expressed concern that by making it harder for people to use an e-scooter, especially given the prevalence of street corner brands like Lime, may drive people back to their cars. That same Canterbury study showed that 28% of e-scooter trips replaced a trip by private car or van, motorcycle, ride source vehicle, or taxi, while almost 60% of people said they used a scooter instead of another “sustainable” mode of transportation, like walking or cycling. 

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport told The Spinoff that recent data showed e-scooter riders were becoming “more experienced and skilled”, meaning the overall cost to the taxpayer through ACC claims had been decreasing. “This aligns with overseas experience. NZTA concluded that e-scooters make a useful contribution to the land transport system and their safety is comparable to other modes such as cycling,” the agency said.

According to the ministry, e-scooters were about as safe as cycling – a mode of transport that does require a helmet – and it was not yet satisfied that the regulations should be amended. “Further work is required to consider whether the potential safety benefits would be sufficient to justify mandating the use of helmets on e-scooters. NZTA currently encourages voluntary use of safety helmets. The ministry supports this and continues to encourage safe use and behaviour while using e-scooters.”

This week, the government confirmed it was scrapping the “road to zero” safety campaign developed by the former administration. Instead, it would be writing new “safety objectives”. 

The transport ministry told The Spinoff it was currently preparing advice to provide the government ahead of it revealing what plans it had for road safety. “As part [of] setting its new objectives for road safety the government will consider what regulatory changes it wishes to progress to improve road safety and other actions, this will include whether further regulatory changes are required for e-scooters,” the spokesperson said.