A YouTube star was killed in the UK’s first fatal crash involving an electric scooter

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Emily HartridgeYouTube/Emily Hart

  • A YouTube star and presenter was killed after a crash between an electric scooter and a truck in London.
  • Emily Hartridge made videos about fitness and mental health, and her most popular video had 24 million views.
  • Multiple UK news outlets said that it was the first fatality involving electric scooters in the UK, where they are illegal to ride on public roads but their increasing popularity could lead to a law change.
  • Police said that a woman in her 30s was killed in the crash, and multiple UK news outlets identified Hartridge as the victim while YouTubers and TV presenters paid tribute.

A YouTube star and presenter was killed in an electric scooter crash in what is believed to be the first fatal crash involving one of the scooters in the UK.

An announcement on Emily Hartridge’s official Instagram account on Saturday said that Hartridge "was involved in an accident yesterday and passed away."

"We all loved her to bits and she will never be forgotten. She has touched so many lives it’s hard to imagine things without her," the post said.

London’s Metropolitan Police said that a woman in her 30s died at the scene after a crash between an electric scooter and a truck on Friday.

Multiple UK outlets, including the BBC, The Guardian, and Sky News, identified Hartridge, 35, as the victim.

Read more: The scooter wars are coming to Europe this summer. But first they have to prove they’re not like Uber.

Hartridge had almost 50,000 Instagram followers and almost 350,000 subscribers on YouTube, while her most popular video has 24 million views. She posted regularly about topics like mental health, fitness, and sex.

 

Sky News reported that she was due to host a mental health event on Saturday, and wrote that she wanted to "create a safe space where women could talk about whatever they wanted and feel supported by other women who have gone through similar experiences."

She was also was also an actress, appeared in the short series "Sketch My Life" and the series "Oh S**t I’m 30."
YouTube Creators said in a statement that it was "deeply saddened" to learn of her death, while other YouTubers and UK TV presenters also paid tribute.

FILE - In this May 28, 2019, file photo, a man on a scooter passes a parked scooter along the Mission Beach boardwalk in San Diego. As electric scooters have rolled into more than 100 cities worldwide, many of the people riding them have ended up in the emergency room with serious injuries. Others have been killed. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)Associated Press

Sky News and The Guardian said that the crash is believed to be the first fatal crash involving an electric scooter in the UK. It is not known what kind of scooter was involved in the crash.

In the US, at least 11 deaths involving electric scooters were recorded between January 2018 and June 2019.

In 2018, they were found to be involved in at least 1,545 accidents in the US.

Read more: The e-scooter boom has caused at least 11 deaths in the US since the beginning of 2018

Riding electric scooters is illegal on public roads in the UK, but in influx of electric scooter companies have meant that they are still sometimes used. The UK government is considering dropping the ban as a result.

The UK’s transport minister is meeting with the heads of major scooter companies including Bird and Lime next week to tell them that they need to tell customers about the current law when selling their products, according to The Guardian. 

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Source: Business Insider – sbaker@businessinsider.com (Sinéad Baker)

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