Exploring Trends in Pediatric Traumatic Injuries From Electric Bikes and Scooters

Use of motorized micromobility devices, such as electric bikes (e-bikes) and electric scooters (e-scooters), has recently increased with a concomitant rise in associated injuries. While risk factors and injury characteristics have been increasingly explored in adults, there is limited literature addressing this in children.

We performed a retrospective cohort study of pediatric patients who suffered injuries related to e-bikes, e-scooters, nonmotorized bicycles, and nonmotorized scooters at a single children's hospital from 2021 to 2024. Demographic, injury characteristics, and clinical outcomes were compared between electric devices and nonmotorized vehicles. The primary outcome was differences in injury patterns and clinical outcomes between the motorized and nonmotorized cohorts. We additionally evaluated the rate of traumatic injuries related to motorized micromobility devices presenting to our institution during the study period.

We identified 385 patients: 62 patients had injuries associated with e-bikes or e-scooters, and 323 patients had injuries associated with nonmotorized bicycles and scooters. There was a 267.6% increase in the incidence of injuries due to e-bikes and e-scooters from 2021 to 2024. Injuries related to e-bikes and nonmotorized bicycles were not significantly different. Injuries related to e-scooters were more severe, more frequently had thoracic and head trauma, and were associated with longer hospital LOS and a higher number of postinjury ED visits than nonmotorized scooters.

There was a marked increase in the incidence of pediatric e-bike and e-scooter injuries over the study period. E-scooter injuries differed significantly from nonmotorized scooter injuries and were associated with higher health utilization and lower helmet use.