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Road safety advocates issued a safety warning to parents gifting e-scooters to children this Christmas following a spike in hospitalisations and a series of deaths caused by electric devices across south-east Queensland.
More than 1600 e-scooter riders were hospitalised after crashing in the first 10 months of this year – five per day, according to research from the Jamieson Trauma Institute in partnership with the RACQ.
Data collected between January 2018 and October 2025 showed more than 7200 presentations to Queensland emergency departments after e-scooter crashes, with nearly 30 per cent sustaining head injuries and nearly 24 per cent suffering facial trauma.
The RACQ has warned parents considering gifting children an e-scooter or e-bike this Christmas of safety risks. Credit: Simon Schluter
RACQ senior researcher Andrew Kirk said the high rate of facial and head injuries shows many riders are not wearing helmets correctly, or at all.
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“This is exactly why RACQ recommends stand-up e-scooter riders wear a full-face helmet – to reduce the likelihood of severe facial injuries,” Kirk said.
The warning follows a series of devastating incidents across south-east Queensland, including three deaths.
In late October, an eight-year-old boy died after crashing head on with a 15-year-old boy along a bike path near the Kawana Way and Sunshine Motorway interchange on the Sunshine Coast. Both were riding e-bikes.
The eight-year-old boy from Mountain Creek was rushed to nearby Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a critical condition but died from his injuries.
A teenager suffered significant head injuries and died after crashing an electric dirt bike on the Gold Coast days later.
Just last weekend, thirteen people were hospitalised after a spate of e-scooter and e-bike crashes across Queensland on Friday night and Saturday morning, which included the death of a 33-year-old Sunshine Coast woman.
Queensland’s police minister acknowledged efforts to improve the safe use of e-devices but said parents need to take responsibility too. Credit: Louie Douvis
Police believe the crash was caused after the woman lost control of the device.
Alongside appropriate safety gear, RACQ advised parents to ensure they are gifting legal devices, and following relevant rules.
“Parents should look out for key signs of an illegal e-bike, for example, if it doesn’t have pedals or can travel faster than 6km/h without pedalling, it’s illegal,” Kirk said.
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“Make sure the e-scooter weighs less than 60 kilograms and fits within the legal-size limits – either 1250 millimetres long by 700 millimetres wide by 1350 millimetres high, or 700 millimetres long by 1250 millimetres wide by 1350 millimetres high.
“[And] remember the rules in Queensland – children under 12 are not allowed to ride e-scooters, and those aged 12 to 16 must be supervised by a responsible adult.”
At a press conference on Thursday to launch a road safety blitz ahead of the holiday season, Police Minister Dan Purdie acknowledged calls to legislate and ban the sale of e-devices, but said parents need to take responsibility too.
“Parents need to know, especially leading up to Christmas, that the device you’re potentially buying your young person, if it is legal,” he said.
“They might be buying a bike, an expensive bike, and not really reading the rules and realising that once they get it out the front door and on the road it’s illegal.
“So everyone needs to take responsibility.”
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