The Austin Police Department verified that someone died after a suspected electric scooter crash at the junction of West 23rd and Guadalupe streets early Thursday morning. A University spokeswoman said the rider had no connection to UT.
At at 1:45 a.m., Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services and police responded to a welfare check call and arrived on the scene.
“This death investigation was determined to be an accidental death based on preliminary investigation and evidence gathered at the scene,” the APD Public Information Office wrote in a statement to the Texan.
The incident occurs as the Austin Department of Public Works and Transportation investigates new regulations to increase the safety of electric scooters and dockless bikes. The proposed regulations would force electric scooter providers to perform maintenance and report accidents, and they would cap the maximum speed of electric scooters at 15 mph, according to a draft. The final guidelines are expected to be posted by the department on August 28.
According to a 2024 city audit, inconsistent data collecting and reporting of crashes involving electric scooter riders lead to a dearth of trustworthy information.
As of July 11, the Texas Department of Transportation reported that four people riding electric scooters have suffered significant injuries as a result of traffic accidents this year. Electric scooter users have been involved in 397 crashes over the last ten years, with six of those crashes resulting in one or more fatalities. According to TxDOT data, 265 collisions resulted in injuries, 47 of which caused incapacitating injuries.
