Latest news with #GavinBoldt
ABC News
4 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
E-scooter injuries at Sunshine Coast Hospital trigger calls for ban
Parents and public health experts are calling for e-scooters to be banned for young people, with Australian-first figures highlighting the huge number of children injured or maimed while riding. The report, published today in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, is the first to measure the number and severity of e-scooter injuries affecting Australian children. It found that almost two children aged five to 15 were brought into Sunshine Coast University Hospital every week for two years. One of them was 11-year-old Gavin Boldt. Angela Boldt said an e-scooter nearly killed her son Gavin last year. On July 11, Ms Boldt picked Gavin and his 17-year-old brother up from school and dropped them home, at Buderim, before leaving to buy some groceries. "He said, 'Mum can I go for a quick scooter ride around the neighbourhood?' and we live in a cul-de-sac and it's very very safe," she said. "I said sure, 'Just make sure to pop your helmet on.'" About 20 minutes later her eldest son called saying Gavin was not moving after being thrown from his e-scooter. Ms Boldt, a nurse, had her son send her a photo to help her gauge the severity of the injuries. She said he was flown to Brisbane where doctors had to cut pieces out of his head in life-saving brain surgery. "He's got metal plates to keep his skull back," she said. Researchers recorded 176 e-scooter injuries in children and teens aged five to 15 at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in 2023 and 2024. The average age of riders was 14 and most were male. The study one in 10 e-scooter injuries were life-threatening or potentially life-threatening, while 37 per cent of cases involved a broken bone. Riders in about 42 per cent of cases were not wearing a helmet and 36 per cent involved speeds faster than 25 kilometres per hour. One in eight cases were collisions with cars. Queensland laws allow children aged 12 to 15 to ride e-scooters if they are supervised by an adult. Speeds should be limited to 25kph on roads and 12kph on pedestrian walkways. Helmets are required and two riders (doubling) is forbidden. Lead author Matthew Clanfield, who also worked at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital during the study period, said he was concerned. "We would see a child or teen attend the emergency department with an e-scooter injury every few days," he said. Dr Clanfield said scooters were the reason for one in 30 emergency visits for 14-year-olds during the study period. "A lot of the parents attending were extremely upset to see their child hospitalised and weren't aware how risky e-scooters can be or the legal requirement for supervision under 16," he said. The research follows news the Queensland government will hold a public inquiry into e-scooters. Queensland and ACT are the only two states that allow e-scooter use for those under 16 years. Dr Clanfield said he wanted anyone under 16 to be banned from riding e-scooters until safety measures were improved. Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Terry Slevin said e-scooters were a public health and safety concern across Australia, and regulation had failed to keep pace. Nine months on from his crash, Ms Boldt said Gavin was still not quite himself. "He had a large blood clot after his accident … having your 11-year-old at risk of a stroke if he gets bumped was part of our real life experience." Ms Boldt said she had seen young boys on e-scooters riding on busy Sunshine Coast roads faster than her car, without helmets, and doubling. "The speeds should be decreased and locked," she said. "There should be age limits and helmet requirements."
ABC News
4 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Children account for one in three e-scooter deaths
Isabella Higgins: Amid a rising national death toll from e-scooter accidents, new research has found one third are children and Queensland has recorded the highest death rate amongst kids. It's now facing calls to urgently ban young people from e-scooters with doctors labelling it a public health emergency. Annie Guest reports from Brisbane. Annie Guest: When her 11-year-old son Gavin landed 30 metres from his e-scooter, Sunshine Coast mum Angela Boldt says only the neighbour's dog saw it and his barking sounded the alarm. Angela Boldt: He was in a critical condition and was on the street with a river of blood coming from his head and unconscious. Annie Guest: Gavin was airlifted to Brisbane for emergency brain surgery with doctors warning that her son was unlikely to live. Gavin survived but he's still suffering. Angela Boldt: He wasn't the same kid. Sorry. It's taken this full year and he still has post-amnesia moments. He has vision issues, he has frontal lobe damage and it's affected our entire family. Annie Guest: She'd permitted Gavin to ride in the cul-de-sac behind their house with his helmet on. It later became clear he didn't wear it and his e-scooter could go twice the 25km per hour speed limit. Only Queensland and the ACT allowed children under 16 on e-scooters. They're required to have adult supervision. Angela Boldt didn't know that. Angela Boldt: No, when we purchased this item, when we bought it, I didn't even know that there was an age restriction. You just go, "oh, it's a scooter, I see everybody else on the street with them". Annie Guest: Dr Matthew Clanfield has looked at 176 e-scooter accidents involving children who were treated at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital. In 2023 and 2024, he says many were unsupervised. Matthew Clanfield: We had half the kids not wearing helmets. We had 36% of kids admitting to going over the maximum speed limit in Queensland of 25km an hour. Annie Guest: Dr Clanfield's research is published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. Matthew Clanfield: I can say that this is a public health emergency. Annie Guest: There's no official national tally. So, Associate Professor Milad Haghani, from the University of Melbourne searched five and a half years of media reports to find 36 deaths, one third of which were children. And more kids died in e-scooter accidents in Queensland than any other state. So Dr Clanfield and Dr Haghani are urging the Queensland Government to ban children under 16 from e-scooters immediately before there are more deaths. Queensland's Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg wasn't available, releasing a statement attributing the accidents to unsafe and unlawful riding. He pointed to the state's parliamentary inquiry into e-scooters due to report next March. Isabella Higgins: Annie Guest reporting there.
