Serious e-bike and e-scooter injuries among children are rising sharply at a Florida children’s hospital, with admissions almost doubling year on year, doctors have warned.
Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children admitted about 50 young patients with significant injuries linked to electric bikes and scooters in 2023. The figure rose to 125 in 2024, while 120 children had already been admitted during the first six months of 2026.
Dr Donald Plumley, a paediatric trauma surgeon at the Orlando hospital, said staff had reviewed their records after noticing a growing number of cases involving so-called micromobility devices.
“We’ve about doubled the incidence every year. So that’s pretty dramatic numbers,” he said.
Only 15% of seriously injured children wore helmets
Hospital data showed that just 15% of children admitted with serious e-bike or e-scooter injuries had been wearing a helmet.
Doctors are urging families to ensure children understand traffic rules and how to ride safely, while also calling for speed limits and proper protective equipment.
Fifteen-year-old Hunter Ford has experienced the dangers first-hand. He was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital after being struck by a driver while riding his e-bike in August 2025.
Ford said he was thrown about 25 feet across the road and suffered a serious foot injury as well as damage to his liver.
“I went about 25 feet across the pavement, and I have a burn injury on my foot, and I used to have a liver injury. It got torn in half,” he said.
Ford had been wearing a helmet when he was hit and said it was vital that other riders did the same.
“Basically everyone that rides an e-bike is just to always wear a helmet and be precautious of other drivers because you never know what might happen,” he said.
Dr Plumley said younger riders often had little knowledge of road laws and basic safety principles, increasing the risk of a collision or a loss of control.
“We had sensed an increase in e-bike and really micro-mobility, e-bikes, e-scooter situations. So we went back and pulled our numbers,” he said.
Arnold Palmer Hospital has distributed almost 1,000 free helmets to pupils who use electric bikes and scooters, as part of efforts to reduce the number and severity of injuries.
