QA Hospital's dealt with hundreds of e-scooter injuries and incidents in the last five years
The figures add up to more than 500 incidents
“It’s only a matter of time before someone in Portsmouth is killed”: QA Hospital has dealt with over 500 e-scooter injuries and incidents in the last five years.
Using Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, the Local Democracy Reporting Service received figures on e-scooter-related incidents and injuries in Portsmouth in recent years.
Queen Alexandra Hospital, in Cosham, was asked how many e-scooter incidents and injuries it had dealt with involving people in Portsmouth.
The figures do not differentiate between incidents involving illegal privately owned e-scooters and legal ones operated through schemes such as Voi or Lime.
Between March 2021 and December 2022, there were 128 incidents or injuries recorded in the Emergency Department (ED), alongside 16 inpatient admissions, which involve an official hospital admission and overnight stay.
Between January 2023 and December 2024, there were 161 ED incidents and 27 inpatient admissions.
Between January 2025 and July 2026, there were 119 ED incidents and 73 inpatient admissions.
In total, the hospital dealt with 524 incidents, including 408 ED cases and 116 inpatient admissions.
Some monthly figures were recorded as fewer than five cases (between one and four) and were treated as zero in the analysis. As a result, the figures presented are the minimum number of incidents.
While ED visits account for the majority of cases, inpatient admissions have risen sharply in recent years.
Inpatient cases increased from six in 2021 and ten in 2022 to 22 in 2024 and 43 in 2025. In the first seven months of 2026, there have already been 30.
The issue of e-scooter safety has been discussed in Portsmouth City Council chambers, with some councillors saying it is “only a matter of time” before a tragedy happens in the city.
Reacting to the figures, Councillor Lee Hunt, cabinet member for community safety, said: “The government has really got to sort out legislation around e-scooters both on the shared scheme and the illegal scooters.
“They need to regulate the industry, because they’re not going to put it back in the box.
He called for rules around “helmets, mirrors, warning signals, MOTs, insurance. All this stuff has got to be put right.”
He said that the council “can’t do anything at our local level. It really does have to be primary legislation”.
“It’s only a matter of time before someone in Portsmouth is killed.”
He said he’s raised the issue with Donna Jones, the police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Mrs Jones says she “recognises the problem” and has carried out Operation Crush, an initiative to seize and destroy illegal e-bikes or e-scooters.
The crime commissioner described the figures as “alarming and are the direct consequence of years of government inaction. I have repeatedly written to successive Secretaries of State calling for clarity on the law, but ministers have failed to address the confusion surrounding privately owned e-scooters and e-bikes.
“Many of these vehicles are capable of significant speeds and can be extremely intimidating for pedestrians, particularly older people, those with disabilities and families with young children.
“While the Government has failed to act, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary has been able to take action locally. More than 500 illegal e-scooters and e-bikes were seized and crushed over the last year.
“But this cannot simply be left to local police forces to resolve. The government must decide whether to properly regulate private e-scooters or make it crystal clear that they cannot be used on public roads and in public spaces.
“Better national legislation, stronger public education and clearer guidance is urgently required.”
On June 12, 2021, George McGowan died after a head-on collision with a car while riding his e-scooter as he attempted to cross Leominster Road in Paulsgrove.
The 19-year-old Paulsgrove resident died at Southampton General Hospital 10 days later after suffering a catastrophic head injury.