Child e-bike and e-scooter injuries in Harris County jumped from one reported case in 2019 to 198 in 2025, and the local EMS agency covering Spring wants parents to act before the first day of school on Aug. 12.
Harris County ESD 11 EMS launched a back-to-school safety campaign on Thursday, Aug. 6, warning families about the spike. The agency calls it a 17,000% increase over six years. Most of the injured riders were children between 5 and 17 years old, 82% were male, and 93% were not wearing helmets at the time of their injury, according to data reviewed by Harris County Public Health and ESD 11 Mobile Healthcare.
It was the first time Harris County Public Health reviewed hospital-level data on e-bike, e-scooter and electric motorcycle injuries, Nancy De La Fuente, the department's active transportation and Safe Routes coordinator, told FOX 26.
Officials believe the local numbers are still an undercount because some injuries are treated at home and never reported to a hospital.
Traumatic injuries, not scrapes
ESD 11 doctors documented traumatic brain injuries, facial fractures requiring surgery, broken arms and legs, and rib and chest trauma among the cases. Dr. Jay Kovar, ESD 11's medical director, said the campaign aims to give parents the information they need to make safe decisions, not to discourage e-bike use altogether.
What parents should know
ESD 11 partnered with Wayne Arrington, owner of Arride Bikes in The Woodlands and Tomball, to educate families. Arrington said parents often walk into his store looking for an electric option their child can ride to school without fully understanding the device's speed or power. Some electric motorcycles can reach 37 mph. They should only be ridden on private property.
"Parents need to understand what their children are asking them to buy, while children need to understand the power and limitations of what they are riding," Arrington told FOX 26.
The agency urges parents to:
- Choose age-appropriate electric bikes and scooters
- Require a properly fitted helmet every trip
- Teach students rules of the road before allowing rides on public streets
- Understand the speed and capabilities of any motorized vehicle before purchase
- Supervise new riders until they demonstrate safe operating skills
Enforcement push already underway
The safety campaign follows a separate move by Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman, who on July 20 asked Spring ISD, Klein ISD, Tomball ISD, Aldine ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and Humble ISD to ban unregistered electric motorcycles on school property. Whether any district has adopted such a policy has not been confirmed. As we reported July 29, the constable's office and Spring ISD police are already coordinating campus safety ahead of the Aug. 12 start.
The Woodlands Fire Chief Palmer Buck estimated about 75% of children and adults his department sees riding electric scooters are not wearing helmets.
Spring ISD's first day of school is Wednesday, Aug. 12. ESD 11 Mobile Healthcare covers 177 square miles of northern Harris County, including Spring, serving more than 700,000 residents.
