Powered scooters putting more children in ER

Accidents resulted in an estimated 10,000 emergency room visits from July 2003 to June 2004, the government reported Tuesday in its first study of the increasingly popular scooters.

About two-thirds of the injured were younger than 15, the Consumer Product Safety Commission found. Sixty percent were male.

“We’ve seen these injuries occurring all too often,” said Gary Smith, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “Children often are riding in and around traffic, they aren’t wearing helmets, and they’re traveling at high rates of speed.”

The CPSC provided no estimates on scooter sales or use, and new methods of tallying injuries prevented comparisons with previous years. But the agency said the obvious jump in popularity of the mostly two-wheelers prompted the study of related injuries.

Electric scooters have been subject to a handful of recalls in the past year — including 275,000 on Tuesday.

Razor USA LLC recalled about 246,000 electric scooters after receiving 261 reports of handlebar welds breaking or bending, which resulted in at least 16 injuries, including three broken arms.

Mattel Inc.’s Fisher-Price recalled about 29,000 scooters after wheel problems caused at least two facial injuries and two hand injuries to children.

The CPSC found that one in five accidents that sent riders to the ER could be blamed on the scooter itself. Such incidents, which included brake failure, loose handlebars and wobbly wheels, represent a “high proportion of injuries” to be linked to a product, rather than consumer or environmental factors, the agency said.

The study also found that seven in 10 mishaps might have been prevented if riders were more careful about how and where they rode.

“The good news is that parents can help significantly reduce deaths and injuries to children by taking simple safety precautions,” agency Chairman Hal Stratton said in a statement, urging adults to have their children wear helmets, stick to smooth surfaces and avoid riding at night.

Alan Korn, public policy director for the National Safe Kids Campaign, said the study confirmed his group’s own observations of scooter accidents in recent years.

“Parents need to be aware of what their children can handle and what they can’t,” said Korn, who stressed the importance of adult supervision, including making sure the scooter is well maintained.

The CPSC recommends that children under 13 not ride motorized scooters that can go over 10 mph.

“The younger the age, the riskier the riding,” said spokeswoman Patty Davis.

But Smith, the Columbus physician, said no one under 16 should ride powered scooters since children can lack the judgment, coordination and maturity to safely operate them.

Though scooters are generally limited to about 20 mph, Smith said modifications can be made to power them up to 50 mph.

Battery-powered electric scooters tend to go slower and have smaller tires than gas-powered ones. The CPSC estimated that 2003 sales of both types were nearly identical, though gas-powered scooters accounted for more accidents — about 55 percent, compared with 37 percent on electric scooters. The type of scooter in the other accidents was unknown.

Razor USA spokeswoman Katherine Mahoney said in an e-mail that the company welcomes the study, in part because of its emphasis on rider and parent behavior.

The CPSC found 49 deaths linked to powered scooters from October 1998 to November 2004, though it noted that some may have involved other types of machines such as mobility scooters more often used by adults.

———

On the Net:

Consumer Product Safety Commission: http://www.cpsc.gov

Razor USA: http://www.razor.com

Fisher-Price consumer Web site: http://www.service.fisher-price.com

National Safe Kids Campaign: http://www.safekids.org