--- title: Scooters Are the Most Dangerous Toys for Kids description: Ride-on toys accounted for 42% of toy-related hospital visits between 1990 and 2011, a new study finds canonical: https://time.com/3611481/toys-injuries-pediatrics-scooters/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-01T13:00:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:23.213Z og:title: Scooters Are the Most Dangerous Toys for Kids og:description: Ride-on toys accounted for 42% of toy-related hospital visits between 1990 and 2011, a new study finds og:url: https://time.com/3611481/toys-injuries-pediatrics-scooters/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scooters Are the Most Dangerous Toys for Kids twitter:description: Ride-on toys accounted for 42% of toy-related hospital visits between 1990 and 2011, a new study finds twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Toy Is to Blame for a Huge Surge in Child Injuries by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 1, 2014 1:00 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 1, 2014 1:00 PM UTC Toy-related injuries have risen dramatically over the past two decades — and one type of toy is largely to blame. Injuries involving toys increased by 40% percent between 1990 and 2011, a new report from [Clinical Pediatrics](http://cpj.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/11/28/0009922814561353.abstract) found, with about 3,278,073 kids sent to emergency rooms for toy-related injuries over the two decades, or about 149,000 cases per year. The toys most likely to lead to injury: scooters, and other ride-on toys. The popular wheeled toy accounted for 42.5% of admissions to hospitals between 1990 and 2011 and 34.9% of injuries in children. The report is the first nationally representative study in toy-related injuries over time, though the Consumer Product Safety Commission examines injuries annually. In the two most recent reports, [scooters](http://time.com/2809542/airborne-bouncy-houses-have-nothing-on-those-dangerous-rubber-balls/) top the list of the most dangerous toys for kids. In a statement to [_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/12/01/scooters-toy-injury-study/19550159/), the president of child-safety advocacy group Safe Kids Worldwide says parents can help keep kids safe by buying age-appropriate toys and protective gear like helmets and knee pads with scooters and bikes. _Read next:_ [_Top 10 Toys of 2014_](http://time.com/3582120/top-10-toys-2014/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3611481/toys-injuries-pediatrics-scooters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3611481/toys-injuries-pediatrics-scooters/"},"headline":"This Toy Is to Blame for a Huge Surge in Child Injuries","datePublished":"2014-12-01T13:00:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:23.213Z","description":"Injuries involving toys increased by 40% percent between 1990 and 2011","url":"https://time.com/3611481/toys-injuries-pediatrics-scooters/","keywords":["Living","Parenting","kids","safety"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3611481/toys-injuries-pediatrics-scooters/","name":"This Toy Is to Blame for a Huge Surge in Child Injuries"}}]}] ```