ARVIN, Calif. (KERO) — A 14-year-old girl was injured in a collision between her electric scooter and a vehicle in Arvin Thursday, as new national data shows e-scooter injuries among children are surging.
Arvin police say the girl was riding near the CVS on Bear Mountain Boulevard around 6:40 Thursday evening when the crash happened. She was taken to the hospital, but her injuries were minor and not life-threatening.
An analysis of federal injury data by E-Ride Hero estimates nearly 29,000 children aged 14 and younger were hurt in e-scooter incidents in 2025, a 64% increase from 2024 and an increase of nearly 700% since 2020.
Bakersfield Police Sgt. Joshua Deutinger says as e-scooters grow in popularity, they're also seeing more crashes involving them.
"I'm sure everybody sees them all over the roadways now. We do have crashes oftentimes involving e-scooters. A lot of them could be single vehicles or just where they hit an object or or a pothole or something," Deutinger said.
Deutinger says those riding e-scooters still have to follow the same rules of the road and stay in bike lanes. He says riders need a valid driver's license to operate an e-scooter on the street under California law.
"Parents, if you're wanting your kids to have an e-scooter, I know they're fun but they can't operate them on the roadway at all. Kids, if you are riding, especially younger kids, they're not supposed to be ridden on roadways with a posted speed limit of anything over 25 miles an hour," Deutinger said.
Local parent Brennan Lamar says he wouldn't mind his kids riding an e-scooter as long as they're being safe.
"We don't know what our kids do when they leave, but we're giving them an amount of freedom and responsibility when we either give them a car or an e-scooter or an e-bike or any of that, but we need to make sure that they're being responsible and as parents we're ultimately responsible for them and their actions," Lamar said.
Dr. Joshua Tobias with Kern Medical says possible injuries can range from scrapes and broken bones to serious head injuries. One of his biggest concerns is how quickly e-scooters can reach high speeds.
"I think that children and parents underestimate the speed that the e-scooters go. A child can control a regular scooter or a regular bike on their own and dictate the speed, whereas with an e-scooter or an e-bike, they're able to just twist the handle or push a button and the speeds go much faster than they're used to and they're unable to control it," Tobias said.
Experts say one of the most important things riders can do to protect themselves is wear a helmet.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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