Should I ride or not?: A conjoint study on young riders’ nighttime e-scooter use after drinking

Alcohol-impaired riding is a leading contributor to e-scooter crashes and injuries, especially among young adults during nighttime hours. Yet, research on the decision-making processes underlying this risky behavior remains limited. Based on a stated preference approach, this study quantifies the situational factors influencing young people’s likelihood of riding e-scooters after drinking alcohol at night. An online conjoint experiment was conducted with 717 participants aged 16–35 from Switzerland, Germany, and Denmark. Respondents evaluated realistic scenarios varying five attributes: type and availability of transport alternatives, e-scooter availability, peer influence, and perceived security. Hierarchical Bayes modeling and choice simulations revealed peer influence and the presence of viable transport alternatives as the most decisive factors, each accounting for over a third of the decision weight. Scenarios where peers opted for safer alternatives or where public transport was directly available significantly reduced the likelihood of alcohol-impaired e-scooter use. Men and frequent e-scooter users showed higher risk propensity, and more permissive attitudes toward drunk riding associated with both past behavior and higher scenario-based e-scooter riding likelihoods after drinking alcohol. Implications include the need for social-norms campaigns leveraging peer dynamics, improved late-night transport provision, and restricted e-scooter availability in nightlife hotspots.