She was in hospital for five days
11:59, 05 Jun 2026Updated 15:56, 05 Jun 2026
Sally was badly injured after crashing her e-scooter because of a pothole(Image: Bristol Live)
A Bristol woman spent five days in hospital recovering from the injuries she suffered after the e-scooter she was riding hit a pothole.
Sally*, who works as a restaurant manager in Clifton, used one of the vehicles to make her way home from a shift last week.
But when she turned on to dimly-lit Redland Road, she hit a pothole. The unlucky woman, who described herself as naturally careful and who was taking her first trip on a rental scooter in two years, flew off the vehicle and suffered a deep cut to her head.
After an agonising seven hour wait in A&E, it was confirmed she had also fractured five ribs and her collarbone. Sally blames the dire state of many of Bristol’s roads, rather than the e-scooter itself, for her crash.
“There are potholes everywhere, and I really did not see this one that I hit,” she said.
Sally suffered a deep gash to her head(Image: Bristol Live)
“Obviously, Redland Road is not extremely illuminated. There’s not a lot of light, and I did not see that porthole whatsoever.
“I wasn’t speeding much either, because I’m always quite careful, and I was coming out from one of the minor roads as well, so the only acceleration that I had was to accelerate to restart the e-scooter.”
Now, Sally stands to miss eight weeks of work and will only be eligible to receive statutory sick pay in that time, far less than what she normally earns. Sally said she intended to pursue a compensation claim against Bristol City Council.
Councillor Ed Plowden, chair of the transport and connectivity committee, said: “Making roads safe and reliable for all users is a priority. Repairing potholes is an important part of maintaining the road network, and we continue to seek the much-needed additional funding required to more effectively meet this challenge.”
“Roads are inspected regularly to check their condition. Every road is checked at least once a year, with busy roads inspected once a month. We aim to repair potholes within 28 days, in line with national guidelines and we are working closely with our contractors to make sure repairs are completed on time.”
Sally has a mystery guardian angel to thank for making sure things didn’t get even worse after the accident.
A man she knows only as Matthew stopped his car when he saw her lying bleeding on the road. He called for an ambulance, but when he was told one wouldn’t be arriving any time soon he took matters into his own hands and drove Sally to the hospital himself.
The stricken woman is now desperate to find Matthew to thank him personally. However, because of the state she was in when he came to her rescue she can’t remember any identifying details about him.
“He put me in his car without even thinking about it, even though I was bleeding everywhere,” she said.
“He tried to talk to me while I was in complete shock and hurt, to keep me awake I suppose. He dropped me off at the emergency ward at Southmead hospital and ensured I was taken care of.”
The number of injuries suffered by riders of e-scooters or caused by crashes involving the vehicles is difficult to gauge. According to police forces around Great Britain, in 2024 there were 1,312 collisions involving e-scooters, up from 1,292 in 2023.
Six people were killed in those collisions, with 444 suffering serious injuries.
The number of collisions involving e-scooters is likely to be significantly higher because, as the Department of Transport – which publishes the crash data – acknowledges, “It should be noted that a considerable percentage of non-fatal casualties are not reported to the police. Non-fatal casualties for e-scooter users are amongst the most likely to be under-reported in road casualty data since they have no obligation to inform the police of collisions.”
She now faces up to eight weeks off work(Image: Bristol Live)
Sally said that she was lucky she was travelling at about 11.45pm on a Tuesday night. At a busier time, she easily could have been thrown into the path of an oncoming car, or run over by one travelling behind her.
The risk of crashing is higher on roads in a bad condition. Analysis of the 2021 Dott London trial, carried out in conjunction with cycling safety technology firm See.Sense, found ‘strong correlations between high levels of braking and swerving, and poor road surface conditions. This could occur in areas with potholes or poor infrastructure, causing riders to swerve or brake to avoid crashes, as well in roads with rough surfaces – such as cobbled streets – resulting in reduced control of the e-scooter’.
Sally is still badly bruised over a week after the crash. She fractured five ribs in the incident(Image: Bristol Live)
Bristol City Council filled in 4,398 potholes in 2024/25. The authority has been given an ‘amber’ rating for road maintenance by the Department of Transport which signifies “room for improvement”.
*not her real name