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Scooter mania With Christmas Day approaching, health officials are worried that the number of injuries caused by people falling off Razor-style scooters during the holidays may increase. The popular lightweight scooters have been blamed for thousands of accidents nationwide, ranging from head injuries and body lacerations to broken bones and teeth.
They're lightweight, fun
-- and an efficient way
for children to get hurtBy Janine Tully
Star-Bulletin"People will be getting the scooters as gifts and, again, children will be out of school," said Kaiser Permanente spokeswoman Jan Kagehiro.
While the number of youngsters treated at Kaiser's emergency rooms for scooter-related injuries has tapered off since the summer, when school was out for many youngsters, the hospital is bracing for a surge of scooter-related mishaps during and after the holidays, Kagehiro said.
This is a good time, she said, to remind people to suit up properly and wear protective gear.
Most injuries involve children, but doctors see adults, too, she said. "No one is immune, no matter what age you are," she said.
Hawaii hospitals have no statistics regarding the number of injuries caused by Razor-style scooters -- just anecdotal reports from emergency room staff.
Meanwhile, the Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition/Safe Kids Hawaii, an advocacy group affiliated with the Department of Health, is working on a statewide safety plan to include scooters, skateboards and in-line skates.
The group's goal is to reduce sport recreational injuries through public education, legislation and other means, said Linda Rosen, a Department of Health pediatric emergency specialist and coalition co-chair.
She said she hopes the new state bicycle-helmet law for children leads people to use helmets in other activities. "As a pediatric emergency physician, I've seen some pretty nasty injuries," Rosen said.
The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires bicyclists under 16 to wear a helmet. The safety group was instrumental in lobbying the Legislature to pass the law.
Parents have to weigh the risk of having their kids suffer head injuries and lose their permanent teeth, said Rosen, who has refused to buy scooters for her children ages 6 and 10 because "they are too dangerous."
The risk for injury increases with the speed, she said, creating a potential for a "banana peel" fall, in which the person loses his balance and lands flat on his face.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported Thursday that certain Chinese-made scooters are being recalled because of handlebar problems that caused riders to lose control. About 90,000 Kent Kickin' mini-scooters and about 7,500 Racer X20s are being recalled because of handlebar problems, according to the report.
Steven Kershner, area manager for Sharper Image, a major retailer of the scooters, said scooters being recalled are probably knockoffs of the original Razor his store sells.
"They are poorly designed and production is rushed," he said.
He said scooter buyers at the Ala Moana store range from 4 years old to 80 years old. "We had a grandma who wanted to ride with her grandkids," he said.