Calls for stronger safeguards after spike in child injuries
Children aged 10 to 14 made up half of the almost 500 kids treated in Victorian hospitals with electric scooter injuries last financial year, despite under-16s being excluded from highly publicised e-scooter trials and, more recently, banned from the mode of transport altogether.
Emergency departments treated 485 patients aged between two and 18 years old in the 12 months to June 30, 2025, a 67 per cent increase in e-scooter injuries in children year-on-year.
Boys accounted for almost two-thirds of the ED presentations, and 47 per cent were patients aged 10 to 14. Under-16s were not allowed to ride the e-scooters that were trialled in the cities of Melbourne, Yarra, Port Philip and Ballarat from April 2023.
The statistics were taken from the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit and collated by independent charity Kidsafe Victoria.
Dr Adam West, the head of paediatric emergency medicine at Monash Health, said children were still coming to hospital with a range of injuries because of the devices despite recent safeguards.
“It can be minor grazes, sprains, broken bones. But we have seen some kids with significant head injuries, fractured skulls, brain injuries and even one child who had a ruptured spleen.
“It is an emerging problem for us. It does make me concerned.”
West said the child who ruptured their spleen – an organ inside the left ribcage – did so in a suburban backyard, not on an open footpath or road. Even though the child was in the confines of a small area, when they crashed into a fence, the handlebars slammed into their abdomen with tremendous force.
“It’s not appreciated how unsafe electric scooters and bikes can be. The difference is they aren’t relying on the individual to propel them – they’re self-propelled. The kinetic energy can build up really quickly, and if you stop suddenly, it has to go somewhere.
“In the space of a backyard, serious injuries can happen.”
Victoria legislated safety standards for e-scooters last year after recent trials of shared devices, including mandatory helmet-wearing, maximum speeds of 20km/h and banning their use on pedestrian-only footpaths. Riders must also be 16 years of age or older.
But Kidsafe Victoria chief executive Sarah Sexton said it was clear that stronger safeguards were needed to protect children.
A Victorian coroner called for a ban on the importation and sale of high-powered e-scooters in August last year.
“All you have to do is have a quick look online – it’s very easy to see e-scooters being advertised for speeds well over 20km/h,” Sexton said.
“Our wish is that [governments] really look at those importation rules, both at a Victorian and national level.”
Sexton said that while e-scooter regulations were tightened last year, not enough people were following the rules.
“There’s a big awareness piece to happen here so parents and carers are aware of what the legislation says.”
Broede Carmody is a health reporter for The Age. Previously, he was a state political reporter for The Age and the national news blogger for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
