Are Electric Scooters Safe for Kids?
Are Electric Scooters Safe for Kids?
You’re probably used to seeing people on electric scooters, but would you put your kid on one? E-scooters are joining bikes, skateboards and non-motorized scooters on sidewalks and in bike lanes. And children are often seen whizzing by without helmets.
As motorized scooters continue to gain popularity, kids are increasingly landing in hospital emergency rooms. Between 2012 and 2019, according to a Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada report, nearly 300 out of 527 sample hospital cases related to e-scooter injuries involved children between the ages of two and 14.
In the United States, a Consumer Product Safety Commission report revealed that ER-treated injuries from e-scooters in 2022 were estimated to have increased by 22 percent in one year to 51,700. Children under 14 accounted for 17 percent of that number, while those in the 15 to 24 age group made up a quarter.
Head injuries, as well as arm and leg fractures, are most common, says Dr. April Kam, the interim head of pediatric emergency medicine at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Ontario. While many patients experience relatively minor problems—such as concussions, soft tissue sprains and scrapes—severe injuries do occur, she says. These include skull fractures, internal bleeds, traumatic brain injuries and even death in the case of a vehicle collision.
While head injuries can often be attributed to a lack of helmet use, e-scooters also inherently pose a risk, Kam says. “Regardless of whether you’re wearing a helmet, the speed of an e-scooter is quite significant,” she explains. “If you ride a regular bicycle or manual scooter, when you fall, the impact is not as big as if you’re going 20 to 30 kilometres per hour and fall off an e-scooter.”
She adds that sometimes accidents are caused by teens engaging in risky behaviour—such as two people riding a scooter instead of one—or under the influence of alcohol or cannabis.
What are the rules around riding scooters?
The Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America recommends kids under the age of eight don't ride any type of scooter. Still, Kam considers using manual scooters comparable in risk to riding a bicycle.
“I think there needs to be a balance of allowing kids to be kids within safe parameters and allowing them to fall and scrape their knees … that’s healthy,” she says. “If your child is wearing a properly fitted helmet, and is properly supervised by a responsible and non-distracted adult, I don’t think I would put an age limit on manual scooters.”
However, she is against e-scooter use for younger children and is also wary of older teens using them. If teens are going to ride an e-scooter and they meet the legal minimum age requirement in their city, Kam says they should wear a fitted helmet; not use intoxicants, no texting or listening to music while riding; and follow road safety rules.
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