E-bikes and E-scooters are becoming a popular alternative to driving, and it’s on track to becoming a $2 billion market.
And with more E-bikes being bought comes more dangers, especially for young riders.
CBS News Miami’s Steve Maugeri breaks down what you need to know if your child received one for Christmas.
When Malvina Duncan saw her 12-year-old son Benjamin opening up an E-scooter on Christmas, she says she was excited and nervous at the same time.
“Once he opened the helmet he was like, ‘What? You know what this means?’ He just looked for it. He knew that if he had a helmet, he was gonna have a scooter,” Duncan said.
She’s glad her son also got a big helmet as well. He couldn’t wait to go outside and try it.
“I also was confident in that I knew he was ready,” Duncan said.
Duncan wanted to spread the word about E-Bike and E-Scooter safety, since these machines are becoming more popular.
So she spoke about the issue where she works, at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
“Florida in particular does have the classifications where the E-Bikes and E-Scooters are vehicles, so they do need to obey traffic laws,” Duncan said.
“The more you see them, the more kids are gonna be on them, the more chances are that they’re gonna get hurt,” said pediatric surgeon Patricio Lao.
Data from the hospital shows the number of injuries they’ve seen jumped from 19 in 2023 to 37 in 2025.
Since 2019, E-Bike emergency room visits have tripled, CBS News reports
And CBS News reported in October that, since 2019, E-Bike emergency room visits among children ages 10 to 17 have more than tripled.
“Children must master the regular bikes conventional bike riding and conventional scooter riding before they jump into these higher classifications,” Duncan said.
Duncan says she’s going to start her son off with rules, such as only allowing him to ride while supervised, and he can only stay in the neighborhood.
She also wants to limit how fast he can go.
Just like her son on the scooter, she’s gonna take it slow.
CBS News Miami asked her how long before she will be comfortable with her son going out on his own on the e scooter.
“Never,” Duncan said with a laugh.
She said that some models have settings where you can put in a maximum speed. She said It’s best to read the manual.
The children’s hospital has a bunch of guidelines for E-Bikes and E-Scooters.
You can find that here.
