Scooter Safety for Children

By Mark A. Brandenburg, MD

Parents, prepare yourselves. Foot-propelled scooters are becoming the rage across the U.S., and children everywhere are flocking to them. The summer of 2000 saw the rebirth of scooters. Experts predict the scooter industry will sell 2 to 5 million scooters this year. First popular in the 1950s, scooters provide a wonderful outdoor activity that can be enjoyed by the whole family. But let me assure you, this ain't Grandpa's scooter. The scooters of today have smaller wheels like those found on inline skates, making them much, much faster -- up to 30 miles per hour with some kids. Consequently, the incidence of scooter-related injuries to children has skyrocketed.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has reported that emergency room-treated injuries related to popular lightweight scooters have increased 700 percent since May, 2000. CPSC data show that there were more than 4,000 scooter-related injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms in August, 2000 alone. There were more than 40,000 emergency room-treated injuries reported in 2001. Five children have died from scooter-related injuries. Nearly 90 percent of the injuries were to children under 15 years of age.

Approximately 30 percent of all scooter-related injuries are fractures or dislocations. Head injuries, contusions, cuts and bruises comprise the rest of these injuries. Keep in mind that these statistics apply only to those children who sought medical attention in emergency rooms. Estimates show that thousands more are being treated in outpatient medical clinics and doctors' offices.

Motorized scooters are also becoming popular with kids, but in smaller numbers. Be very careful here; they are much, much more dangerous than the foot-propelled scooters. At least 3 deaths and over 4,000 ER visits have already been reported.

As the scooter fad grows you might find yourself at the store picking out a new scooter for your anxiously awaiting child, and that's fine. Just remember to keep safety a top priority. The CPSC estimates that by taking a few simple steps 70% of scooter injuries can be prevented. Keep in mind the following safety tips to ensure a "child-safe" outing each time your child rides his or her scooter.

* It is essential that your child wear a helmet meeting the new CPSC standards. By making a helmet mandatory riding equipment your child will be far more likely to develop this life-saving habit of wearing protective head gear for this and other such activities.

* Knee and elbow pads are also very important. They can soften to the blow to these major joints should a crash occur.

* Restrict your kid's riding to those areas free from automobile traffic, water, sand, gravel or dirt.

* Don't allow your speedster to take out a scooter after dark, especially near a street. This can lead to an auto-pedestrian accident because of the decreased visiblilty experienced by night time drivers.

* Motorized scooters are nothing more than very small mopeds. Do everything in your power to steer children away from these very dangerous vehicles.

Good luck in these upcoming days of the "scooter revival". And as always ... stay "child-safe".

Mark A. Brandenburg, M.D., his wife Kelly and their son live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dr. Brandenburg attended medical school at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, graduating in 1992. He did his emergency medicine training at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City at University Hospital and Children's Hospital of Oklahoma, completing it in 1997. Currently, he is an emergency physician in the Trauma Emergency Center at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, the busiest emergency department in Oklahoma with approximately 70,000 patient visits each year. The Trauma Emergency Center is the regional pediatric trauma center for Eastern Oklahoma.

His book, CHILD SAFE: A Practical Guide for Preventing Childhood Injuries, is the top selling child injury prevention book in the U.S. He also serves as Medical Advisor to the Tulsa Chapter of the Safe Kids Coalition, and is an instructor in the internationally acclaimed Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) courses for physicians. His advice on child safety has appeared in Parents, Parenting, Tulsa Kids, Child, and Redbook, among numerous other magazines, newspapers, radio and television shows. He speaks and writes extensively on all areas of child injury prevention. His wonderful style of lecturing provides humorous and interesting stories from the ER that provide many, many valuable lessons in child safety.