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Woman on an e-scooter: At 1.3 per mille, the mileage fell to an average of around 25 percent, at 1.5 per mille it fell to around ten percent
Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst / picture alliance / dpa
Even moderate consumption of alcohol will significantly reduce driving performance on e-scooters.
That is the result of a study by the forensic medicine institutes in Düsseldorf and Munich.
"We were surprised by the significant deterioration in driving performance by about half - from an alcohol level of 0.3 per mille," reported Professors Thomas Daldrup and Benno Hartung at the Düsseldorf Institute for Forensic Medicine.
At 1.3 per mille, only a quarter of the mileage remains
Between a per mille value of 0.3 and 0.7, the mileage remained relatively constant - reduced to around half.
Then it continued to decrease as the alcohol level increased.
At 1.3 per mille, the mileage fell to an average of around 25 percent, at 1.5 per mille it fell to around ten percent.
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The blood alcohol level after an alcoholic drink depends on various factors, such as age, body weight and height, as well as gender.
After half a liter of beer, a man of average height usually reaches a blood alcohol level of more than 0.3.
In women, the alcohol levels are usually higher after the same amount of alcohol.
Based on a study on cycling under the influence of alcohol, the researchers had set up a course that the test subjects had to complete on an e-scooter first sober and then with increasing alcohol levels.
The tests were carried out on four different days in rain and dry.
In order to rule out effects such as fatigue, a sober control group drove through the course at the same time intervals.
All test participants wore helmets and protective clothing, so no one was injured despite individual falls.
Driving on e-scooters requires good balance
Why is the negative influence of alcohol on e-scooters so clear?
This is probably due to the high demands on the sense of balance that are required of the drivers.
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"With the e-scooters, the relative driving insecurity occurred very quickly and you commit a crime from 0.3 per mil," said Hartung.
"Many play - without knowing it - with their driver's license." Even minors could get an entry on the e-scooter and later have considerable difficulties getting their driver's license.
"In view of these results, the same standards as for novice drivers should apply to e-scooters, namely an alcohol ban," demanded the Association against Alcohol and Drugs in Road Traffic, which had supported the study.
Four times as many injuries as among cyclists
Previously, a study by the Institute for Transport Research and the German Aerospace Center analyzed the number of people injured in accidents with e-scooters. The result: For every million kilometers traveled, e-scooter drivers are injured more than four times as often as when riding a bike and more than six times as often as pedestrians.
Young adults in particular are out and about in cities in vehicles from providers such as TIER, Bird or Lime, often in the evenings and under the influence of alcohol.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the influence of alcohol was the most common cause of accidents on e-scooters at 18.3 percent in 2020.
At the moment, the same alcohol consumption levels apply to e-scooter drivers as to motorists: Less than 0.5 per thousand is allowed, with an alcohol content of 1.1 per thousand in the blood there is a risk of driver's license being withdrawn and imprisonment or fines.
vki / dpa