NBC.com** E scooters increasing danger for youth

SO MUCH FOR FREE WHEELING MICRO TRANSPORT Teen boys fall or collide riding electric scooters As electric scooters have become popular, they have also led to more injuries, according to research from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, or CHOP. From 2020 to 2021, researchers found, the number of children and teens injured on electric scooters rose 71% in the U.S. Emergency departments reported more than 13,500 such injuries over the two-year period, frequently among boys ages 16 to 18. Head injuries like fractures were the most common type, the researchers found. Nearly 67% of children who sustained head injuries from electric scooters weren’t wearing helmets. Some scooter injuries involved car accidents, while others came after riders hit potholes or uneven ground. Over the summer, 16-year-old Anthony Greco hit a pothole in the road riding his electric scooter home from work. "The scooter started to lose control, and I felt like I was going to fall off. I tried to hop off and save myself, and then I landed right on my ankle, and it just snapped," he said. Anthony fractured his leg and sought care at CHOP. The wound was so severe and dirty that doctors considered amputation, but they were able to perform reconstructive surgery. "His father is an above-the-knee amputee, so we already live that life. To have that for our son, too, that was a really scary thought," said his mother, Krystine Greco. Dr. J. Todd Lawrence, the pediatric orthopedic surgeon who treated Anthony at CHOP and oversaw the research, said many kids visit the emergency room for similar circumstances. But the majority of electric scooter injuries are "little bumps and bruises, things that are fairly easily treated," he said. To prevent injuries, the researchers suggested adding more bicycle and scooter lanes in suburban and urban areas, teaching kids safe riding practices and educating drivers about maintaining safe distances from scooters. Lawrence said parents should also consider buying scooters with sizes and speeds that are appropriate for their teenagers. "If you’re going to have your 15-year-old teenage boy riding it, they don’t need one that goes 55 miles per hour," he said. According to the Greco family, however, kids shouldn't be riding electric scooters at all. “If I see somebody on an electric scooter, I think to myself, ‘How can you even be doing that right now?'" Anthony said. "I see all of the casualties that can happen while they're on it." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com