Share to ClassroomStudy: Child E-Scooter Injuries Rise Fast
Doctors at three children's hospitals in England say e-scooter injuries have risen sharply. Between 2019 and 2024, 477 children were treated after crashes on electric scooters. In 2019, only two of the hospitals kept records, and they saw five cases. By 2024, all three saw 149. The average child was twelve years old. Sixty-four stayed in hospital and 33 needed an operation. Fewer than two percent were wearing a helmet.
In Britain, people over sixteen can rent an e-scooter in some test cities. Rented scooters can not go faster than about 15.5 miles per hour. But it is against the law to ride your own scooter on roads or pavements. Shops still sell them, sometimes for more than 1,000 pounds, and some can be changed to go much faster. Almost all the injuries in the study came from private scooters.
Jacob Calland, aged fourteen, died in Manchester in 2025. A friend was carrying him and went through a red light. The scooter was in a fast turbo setting. Jacob's mother has started a safety campaign. The British government says new laws are coming and may ask riders to wear helmets. In the United States, some states and cities are also making stricter rules.
