SCOOTER FAD TAKES A TOLL ON CHILDREN.

Byline: Jason Kandel and Brent Hopkins Staff Writers

Fueled by a revival in foot-powered scooters, injuries caused by the hot, new two-wheeled toys have surged nationwide nearly 700 percent since May, according to a report released Tuesday.

Scooter-related injuries landed about 4,000 people - mostly children - in emergency rooms in August alone, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

And more than 9,400 emergency room injuries involving the scooters have been reported so far this year, the government watchdog agency reported.

Just ask Harlan Gibbs, an emergency room physician for Glendale Adventist Medical Center whose son Spencer broke his wrist while riding a scooter.

``Far and away, broken wrists are the most popular orthopedic injury among little kids today,'' Gibbs said.

``Fractured wrists from a fall off a scooter can potentially be disastrous. The fall can upset a child's growth plates, which may affect his quality of life later on.''

Gibbs said his 7-year-old son was wearing a helmet but now will wear wrist guards. The Hidden Hills youngster said he broke his wrist in the process of trying to protect his face when he fell.

Police said scooter riders are not required to wear a helmet - as are bicyclists under 18 - and they are legal to ride on streets and sidewalks.

The scooters, which sell for $80 to $120, are modern versions of the 1950s model that all but faded into obscurity. The new ones are aluminum, foldable, weigh less than 10 pounds and have small wheels similar to those on in-line skates.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission report said most injuries occurred from falls. Twenty-nine percent of the injuries were fractures and dislocations. Most of these injuries were to arms and hands.

Local doctors and nurses agree.

``We've seen eyebrow cuts. We've seen arm lacerations, no broken bones,'' said Valley Presbyterian Hospital nurse manager Tony Marcelli. ``A lot of these crashes occur because the wheels are so small that when kids go over cracks, they don't have good control.''

Marcelli's 6-year-old daughter crashed her scooter over the weekend.

``She got one good scrape,'' Marcelli said. ``She put the scooter in the garage. She doesn't want to see it again.''

Doctors at Tarzana Hospital recently treated a 10-year-old boy who had twisted his foot that got caught under a scooter, said Terri Pfeiffer, a registered nurse.

``I've only seen one case,'' Pfeiffer said, ``I'm sure they'll be more.''

Injuries or not, parents are having difficulty resisting their children asking, ``When can I get one?''

``My 5-year-old son is driving me crazy about them,'' said Monica Shaw, 32, while waiting to pick up her daughter at Francis Parkman Middle School in Woodland Hills. ``He keeps asking, `I'll get one for Christmas, right Mom?'''

Local schools are aware of the latest craze, and some officials say the rules for scooters are the same for skateboards.

``The kids are buying them left and right, but it hasn't caused a problem yet,'' said Carlos Martinez, assistant principal at North Hollywood High School. ``Right now, they're not a nuisance, but we're keeping an eye on them.''

At North Hollywood, students are free to bring the scooters, as long as they keep them folded and stored during school hours, just like with skateboards and other wheeled toys.

Richard Lioy, principal of Beachy Avenue Elementary in Arleta, said that he asks students to leave their scooters behind because of theft concerns.

``We recommend that they don't bring them because they're so hard to lock up,'' he said.

Many schools, however, reported that the scooters have yet to make any sort of impact.

``We haven't discussed it yet,'' said Jean Siegel, B-track dean for John H. Francis Polytechnic in Sun Valley. ``I haven't seen to many of them around.''

At schools in Glendale on Thursday, the first day, scooters will be parked in the principal's office or stowed in a backpack but they're not to be ridden on the campus, said Vic Pallos, spokesman for Glendale Unified Schools.

Staff Writers Harrison Sheppard and Donna Huffaker contributed to this story.

CAPTION(S):

photo, chart

Photo:

Raymond Maldonado, 5, rides his foot scooter in Glendale.

Nick Ut/Associated Press

Chart: SCOOTER SAFETY

Riding new popularity, scooters have been blamed for sending nearly 9,500 people, mostly children to the emergency room this year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.