Severe e-bike injuries spike at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital

You likely noticed the sunsets are earlier, the daylight is shrinking, and with less light, we traditionally see more crashes and pedestrian accidents. At least I've always noticed that being in the news. And today, we're getting a chance to talk with an expert, Erin Summa, via Mary Bridge Children's Center for Childhood Safety. Erin, first off, just want to say thank you for jumping in and speaking with us today. Thanks for inviting me. I'm happy to talk to you today. Well, I tell you what, you guys sent over some details on this and the numbers always kind of stand out to me and surprise me, but I want to just kind of jump right in the mile high view, the problem that you all are seeing right now. Yeah, electronic bikes and scooters are an increasingly popular way to get around, and it's tempting to really think of them as being similar to a traditional bicycle, but they are heavier, they're faster, and they are more difficult to manage, so they're potentially causing more motorcycle-like injuries than bike injuries. Yeah, that is scary. I mean, I do see these things going down the road. And at one point in time, I was hopping on thinking like, hey, this is fun. I enjoyed it. And then I hit a pothole and I went flying. I luckily kept my feet. But I learned real fast that maybe these things are a little bit more than meets the eyes. You know, when I hear your folks reaching out to me, I know it's a serious issue. From your viewpoint, the stuff that you all are seeing, where does this rank in terms of kids, teens, and healthcare when they start landing in the ER? Yeah, it's rising. It's rising. We noticed at a recent meeting that now it has pushed the bike injury category up into our top three injuries that we're seeing for kids at Mary Bridge now. I'm So I'm hearing from our emergency physicians and our trauma surgeons that not only the number of injuries are going up, but the severity of the injuries are really alarming. I've been told we're on track to at least double our numbers in 2026 compared to 2025. Yeah, that is scary because it's getting easier and easier to use these things. And, you know, I never want to scare people off of things, but, you know, I live in the worst case scenario business. So I sometimes do see the worst case scenarios. I think you guys flagged you had 30 traumas in 2026. All of 2025 was just 20 like that. That is a number that we're seeing go up and up. So I should ask, you know, what type of injuries are we seeing when we're talking about these e-bike or these e-bike? E-scooter injuries, is there a tendency for it to be a certain type? It does, and it varies. It really depends. Some of the injuries are minor. We're seeing things like cuts and scrapes and bruises and maybe broken teeth. And as the injuries get more severe, because with these types of crashes, we tend to lead with our head and our face in whatever direction that we were going. So we're treating concussions, broken bones, joint dislocations, spinal and facial fractures, and up to and including really traumatic injuries to the So the abdomen, chest, and brain. And some of these injuries can be fatal. One of the things that I always think about is it's really easy to say, well, you guys are only talking about the worst case scenarios, but it sounds to me like these minor things are starting to be more and more severe as well, because it'll make headlines if somebody's getting hit by a car and they pass away, and that's tragic. But in other ways, it can be tragic if a kid's getting hit and they can't walk for a month or half of a year, or it changes the development at school, et cetera. So for those who are thinking like, well, what? Well, there are lesser injuries. Could you maybe just kind of walk us through how serious even the minor ones can be? Well, even the minor injuries, there is a loss of time at school and work and away from friends and family. And as we kind of move up through how severe these injuries can be, when we have a traumatic brain injury, that is life-altering. That is not something that is just going to be a temporary issue for you. So we would obviously like to... Reduce all of these injuries. There's a lot that we can do to kind of bring those injury levels down. And so part of what we're trying to talk to families about now is, number one, think through whether your child is actually ready to ride an e-bike or an e-scooter. And then once you decide they are, what kind of safety procedures do you need to put in place to keep them as safe as they can possibly be? You know, it was once upon a time I feel like it was the four wheelers that was the big concern, but they're so expensive, who actually had them? But when you're talking about e-bikes and e-scooters, it is kind of just more readily available to everybody. So the conversation needs to be a little bit broader than once upon a time was. You know, I did want to ask. You know, at Mary Bridges, obviously you guys, you guys work with children. It's literally in the name, Mary Bridges Children. So when you are targeting an audience to get through to, are you trying to connect more with the kids, the parents, or is it really everybody and all of the above type answer? And if so, like, how do you make those connections? That's a very good question. And I think the answer is all of the above. Obviously, talking to kids about individual behaviors on a bike is a level of this, but it really does start with the parents and caregivers, the ones who are making the decisions around, is my child or my teen actually, do they have the judgment? Are they ready to ride on an e-bike or an e-scooter? So if we could talk to them, just like, honestly, right now, as we are. Kind of heading into the holiday season, now is a really good time and an important time for us to reach out to families and say, hey, if you're actually thinking about or considering an e-bike or an e-scooter as a holiday gift, our suggestion is just kind of take a beat, think it through, and try and figure out if your child is in fact ready for this or not. And also take a look at the updated laws that we've got on the books to see if the device they want is even legal for them to ride at all. And if you do decide, okay, we've done all the research, we've looked it over. Yes, this is an okay thing for us to do. Then that next step is going to be, okay, let's make sure we have the right safety equipment in place or using the right types of helmets. Are we kind of training them on the rules of the road? There's levels to it kind of as parents are making this decision because ultimately the decision is theirs. And one of the reasons I do like these conversations, I do think once you say it out loud, Aaron, it makes sense to the parents out there. Like, I remember being a kid. I didn't want to wear my bike helmet. I thought I looked like nerdier or whatever. But I also wasn't going as fast as the kids are on the e-bikes. I feel like just having this conversation may trigger something in parents' brains out there where they're like, there's a reason that we need to get this helmet. So I hope we're at least accomplishing some of that with what you and I are doing here today. But before I let you go, I do want to just kind of clear space. I always tell folks, I'm not the expert. You deal with this much more. So I had a couple questions for you. I'm thinking through a few things. Um, I like to think that I got it all, but the reality is there's probably a lot that you're thinking about that you just want to get out there. So what am I not asking you about that you, you hope whether it's parents or kids that they're thinking about if they're about to jump onto one of these e-bikes. I think you've done a great job with your questions. The questions have been exactly the kinds of things that I wanted to talk about. I think when you talk to pediatricians, their guideline and their recommendation is kind of breaks down into four things. First, delay. Delay the introduction of that e-bike or that e-scooter to the older, more mature They demonstrated the ability to ride safely. And honestly, ideally, waiting until driving age. That is what we're hearing from a lot of pediatricians. And that's farther than a lot of parents would think. The protection angle, we talked about helmets, but you want to make sure it's a real e-bike helmet, a traditional bike helmet says right on the label that is for non-motorized use. So there is special certifications for e-bikes. There's an NTA-8776 is one of those that would actually be rated for speeds up to 28 miles per hour. That would be great. Also, if they are going to get an e-bike, starting out with the class one e-bike. They separate out into different levels in terms of how powerful they are, whether you need to pedal or not. Start them out with one where it doesn't go as fast and they do have to pedal, so it's a little bit harder for them to get themselves into more trouble. I'm so glad you mentioned that about the helmets. I'll be honest with you, I have had so many of these conversations before. I did not know that there's a difference in a grading system for these for a traditional bike versus an e-bike. It makes sense. Like we said, once you say it out loud, it makes sense. But if you don't know, you don't know. So you don't go looking for the correct helmet for your kid or even yourself. So Erin, I appreciate it. To our viewers at home, she is via the Mary Bridge Children's Center for Childhood Safety, an expert that can help us stay up to date with all these things. Erin, thank you so much for just giving us some of your time today. Thanks so much for