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What's New | Current Newsletter | Newsletter Archive | Newsletter Sign Up Our first topic covered is a hot one: safety (or lack thereof) related to the use of scooters. This article was released by Reuters on December 14th. CDC: Scooter Injuries Rising Rapidly Lightweight foot-propelled scooters like those on many Holiday gift lists have put 27,600 people in hospital emergency rooms and caused two deaths so far this year, federal health officials said Thursday. Accidents involving scooters have risen rapidly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) stated on December 14th. 80% of this year's injuries have occurred during the past few months. "The estimated number of injuries seen in the ER during December 2000 was nearly 18 times highers than in May 2000" said Dafna Kanny of the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Of the 27,600 scooter-related injuries handled in the ER this year, 85% involved children under age 15; 23% were to children younger than 8, the CDC said. 2/3 of those injuries occurred to males. The most common injuries were fractures or dislocations, lacerations, contusions, and strains or sprains. 42% of injuries were to the arm or hand. 27% were to the head or face and 24% were to the leg or foot. 2 known deaths from scooters included an adult who fell and hit his head while teaching his daughter how to ride and a 6 year-old who rode into traffic and was struck by a car. The CDC and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that anyone riding a scooter wear a helmet, knee and elbow pads and ride only in daylight on smooth, paved surfaces with no traffic. Based on the studies involving bicycles, inline skates and roller skates, the CPSC found that helmets may prevent 85% of head injuries and pads can prevent 82% of elbow injuries and 32% of knee injuries. Last week, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said 90,000 scooters were being voluntarily recalled by Kent International, INC of Parsippany, N.J. because the steering bars could unexpectedly pop out if the clamp holding them comes loose. As strongly evidenced by this article, we need to be more safety conscious about scooter safety. Another strong suggestion is that the scooter be ridden in areas of low pedestrian traffic. I witnessed too many close calls and collisions between scooter riders and pedestrians this past fall at the Weston Regional Sports Complex during the AYSO soccer season (despite the rule being instituted and documented in the Dribbles and Kicks newsletter that had forbidden scooter riding during the games on Saturdays). Also, I witnessed many UNPROTECTED riders-no safety equipment at all and even worse, children riding these scooters in bare feet or soccer cleats. Henceforth, we hope that if you plan on presenting a scooter as a holiday gift this season, you also make the investment in your child's well being by purchasing the proper safety equipment and reinforcing sensible riding locations and conditions. |
