Alarming numbers of children are ending up in hospitals with e-scooter injuries after riding the the powerful and fast devices.
There has been a four-fold increase in emergency department presentations since 2022.
Children under 16 years of age are prohibited from riding e-scooters on roads, yet nearly half of the children injured were riding on roads.
The findings are from a new study examining statewide emergency department data in Victoria.
While children represented one of the fastest-growing groups, the study also found young men remained the demographic most likely to be injured, accounting for 71.4% of hospital presentations.
There were 4694 emergency department presentations linked to e-scooters between 2022 and 2025, including 79 pedestrians struck by riders.
Young adults aged 15–24 and 25–34 accounted for almost half of all presentations.
More than one-third of injured riders required hospital admission, while around one-third arrived by ambulance – and most were classified as urgent or emergency cases.
“Emergency clinicians are not simply treating scrapes and bruises due to e-scooter injuries,” said lead author, Dr Lisa Sharwood.
“They are seeing fractures, head injuries and injuries affecting multiple parts of the body.”
The head was the most likely body region to be injured, ahead of injuries to the wrist, hand and forearm.
Dr Sharwood said the findings are indicative of a growing challenge not only in Australia, but around the world.
“The increase in injuries among children appears to be linked to the growing availability of privately owned e-scooters,” Dr Sharwood says.
She says many parents still view e-scooters as recreational devices rather than vehicles capable of causing serious harm.
“What parents need to understand is that e-scooters are not toys. They can travel at speeds capable of causing serious injuries, including fractures and head injuries.
“Access to more powerful devices should be matched to experience,
maturity and the ability to manage risk.”
Co-author UNSW Professor Alexandra Martiniuk says the findings show e- scooter injuries represent a genuine and growing burden on the healthcare system.
“These cases require significant hospital resources and place additional pressure on already busy emergency departments,” Professor Martiniuk says.
The study found almost three-quarters of emergency presentations were because of falls or loss of control, while collisions with motor vehicles formed only a small fraction of emergency presentations.
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