CHOP research shows alarming number of injuries linked to e-scooters, children
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Research from doctors in Philadelphia at Children's Hospital revealed an alarming number of injuries linked to e-scooters and children.
The CHOP doctors reviewed more than 13,000 injuries to kids over a two-year period and found a 70% increase.
One victim lives in South Philly.
Anthony Greco, 16, can't wait to get back in the boxing ring. He's been sidelined for a couple of months with a compound fracture to his ankle.
"I hit a pothole, I was on my electric scooter in the rain," Greco said.
Greco is part of a growing trend of youngsters injured in accidents on e-scooters.
"They are powered for adults and these are kids who are not as heavy as adults riding them and they can get up to speed very quickly and they can get out of control very quickly," Dr. J. Todd Lawrence, a doctor at CHOP, said.
Dr. Lawrence led the study that found e-scooter injuries jumped more than 70% from 2020 to 2021.
"The vast majority of injuries when they came into the emergency room across the country were fractures," Dr. Lawrence said. "The largest area where the kids were injured is the head or face."
The research also found most of the e-scooter injuries happened to males between the ages 16 to 18 and most weren't wearing helmets.
"It was pretty bad, I'm not going to lie," Greco said.
Greco, who wasn't wearing a helmet, knows he's lucky he didn't hit his head
"It was definitely a very scary situation," Krystine Greco, Anthony's mom, said. "My heart dropped, I was petrified."
Another study on e-scooters and e-bikes also found soaring injuries for these so-called "micromobility" devices. At least 233 people have been killed over the last five years. Nineteen deaths are related to fires, another hazard with the devices.
"There are so many accidents with these with teens, with adults it's a scary thing," Krystine Greco said.
For the Greco family in South Philly, Anthony can't get back to boxing soon enough. But what about that e-scooter?
"We're getting rid of it," Anthony Greco said.
For teens who continue riding e-scooters, doctors said it's critical to stay on even pavement and at a safe distance from cars and pedestrians.
