West Midlands has fifth highest e-scooter collision number in Britain

Department for Transport statistics revealed West Midlands Police had recorded 63 incidents in 2021 – landing the area in the top five.

Meanwhile, neighbouring police forces had considerably fewer, with Staffordshire Police and West Mercia Police recording three incidents each.

Metropolitan Police recorded 510 incidents, Avon and Somerset had 96, Nottinghamshire Police had 74 and Merseyside had 72 incidents.

The overall number of pedestrians injured after being hit by e-scooters was four times higher than in 2021 – with 223 people travelling on foot wounded, including 62 who were seriously hurt. That is up from a total of 57 pedestrian casualties in 2020, which included just 13 serious injuries.

The figures have been released just weeks after the Government announced it plans to introduce new legislation to govern the use of e-scooters, with private e-scooters often being used on public roads and pavements despite being banned.

Legalised trials of rental e-scooters have been set up in dozens of towns and cities across England, with West Bromwich, Stafford and Birmingham the three areas to have e-scooter trials.

Casualty statistics also show that 64 cyclists were injured in e-scooter crashes in 2021, up from 21 during the previous 12 months, although there are no figures for the West Midlands and Staffordshire.

Some 1,034 e-scooter riders or passengers were injured in 2021, accounting for 76 per cent of all casualties in crashes involving the devices. That includes nine users who were killed and 305 who were seriously injured.

A breakdown of the types of injuries resulting from e-scooter crashes shows 28 people suffered a serious head injury, 32 sustained a fractured lower leg, ankle or foot, and three endured a broken neck or back.

Not all police provided full data for last year, so the actual number of casualties during that period is likely to be higher.