MILWAUKEE — Children’s Wisconsin this week issued a series of new warnings and reminders about the safety of e-bikes and e-scooters for kids and teenagers, as injuries tied to the vehicles continue to spike.
“We are seeing a huge uptick in e-bike and e-scooter injuries,” said Dr. Emma Strode, an emergency medicine physician with Children’s Wisconsin. “On a given shift, our team’s seeing between one and five injuries, and they’re really severe — they’re looking like injuries that we’d see with motorcycles.”
If parents still decide to let their children ride electric-powered vehicles, experts said parents need to have several conversations with their kids about everything from rules and regulations to the helmets they need to wear.
“With a traditional bike, you can wear a traditional bike helmet,” said Ashley Baggett, an injury prevention specialist with Children’s Wisconsin’s Safety Center. “With these e-devices that move a little faster, we want to make sure they’re wearing a more protective helmet, like an e-bike-standard helmet or even a motorcycle helmet.”
Watch the full interview above.