There has been a 50% increase in the number of children and young people being admitted to hospital with traumatic brain injuries as a result of e-scooter incidents, Children’s Health Ireland has said.
Twelve children were admitted to CHI Temple Street in Dublin between June 2024 and May 2025 with a brain injury from an e-scooter crash, while between June 2025 and May 2026 that number rose to 18, reports RTE.
At least seven more have been admitted since May this year, the hospital said.
E-scooter users must be 16 or older and observe a speed limit of 20km/h under laws introduced in May 2024, reports RTE.
Before that legislation was introduced only one child had been admitted with a brain injury due to an e-scooter crash, while almost 40 have been admitted since, according to CHI.
Many children involved in these incidents were travelling at high speeds, and some were carrying passengers, increasing the risk of severe injury, CHI said, reports RTE.
Of the children admitted with traumatic brain injuries after an e-scooter crash since May 2024, all had evidence of intracranial bleeding, 97% sustained skull fractures and 53% required emergency brain surgery.
Since June, it is estimated that one to two children have been presenting at CHI emergency departments every day with e-scooter related injuries, reports RTE.
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Injuries range from major trauma cases to fractures, head and neck injuries, facial injuries, concussions and lacerations.
This has significantly increased the workload of medical teams both in volume and complexity, CHI said, reports RTE.
Some of the children are left with “permanent physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities,” said Dr Irwin Gill, Consultant Paediatrician in Neurodisability at Children’s Health Ireland.
“These are life-changing injuries that may require lifelong rehabilitation and ongoing support from their families and the State, and which in some cases can never be fully undone. Preventing these injuries must be a public health priority,” he said, reports RTE.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dáil this week he is “leaning towards” a full ban on e-scooters, with Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly telling the Oireachtas Committee on Transport yesterday that he would “absolutely” support an outright ban.
CHI said it supports “any measures that prevent these devastating injuries from occurring in the first place,” reports RTE.
Retailers must take responsibility for how they market and sell e-scooters, the chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy said.
He said well-known Irish retailers are selling e-scooters which could result in harm to children who are too young to operate them and put people on the wrong side of the law, reports RTE.
Retailers need to be upfront with customers about what is legal on the road, he said.
“Parents should be able to trust that a toy shop isn’t selling something that’s illegal for their child to use on public roads. If a scooter can’t legally be ridden by anyone under 16, it shouldn’t be marketed like it’s for an eight-year-old’s birthday,” he added, reports RTE.
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