LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A Clark County leader called for action and education Friday, after a child was hit and killed while riding an e-scooter.
Officials with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said a 10-year-old boy died Thursday night after crossing paths with a pickup truck while trying to cross near Lake Mead and Pecos. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Another boy, who was also on the e-scooter, was taken to the hospital with injuries deemed not life-threatening.
The Clark County School District confirmed Friday that the victim of the crash was a student at Manny Cortez Elementary School.
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This year alone, Metro Police have responded to four deadly e-scooter crashes and two deadly e-bike crashes.
“Every time we hear this news, it’s heart-wrenching. It’s a tragedy,” said Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft. “This is a problem being seen in so many areas.”
Earlier this year, Clark County put new rules into place to promote safety on e-scooters and e-bikes. The law mandates that all riders under 18 years old wear a helmet and bans reckless behavior like stunts and riding too fast. However, Naft says state lawmakers need to take action.
“My hope for the special session, if it’s called, would be that they examine just how scooters are being utilized, that they look at opportunities for improving safety in school zones,” Naft said.
On the local level, Naft said it’s the responsibility of parents to make sure their kids understand the risks of riding e-scooters and e-bikes in traffic.
“If you’re going to allow 10-year-olds to ride vehicles that can flow with traffic and can move on the active roadway, you’ve got to provide them with education and training and all the other things that go into operating a vehicle that has the capacity to go at great speeds,” he said.
Leonidus Filimona, a local boy close in age to the victim of Thursday night’s crash, just got an e-scooter for his birthday. He told FOX5 his dad had to convince his mom to let him have it because of fears for his safety.
“My mom said no because she said that she didn’t want one because a whole bunch of kids die on them a lot,” Filimona said.
He said he was finally allowed to have the scooter on the condition that he ride it responsibly.
“If you’re on a busy road, just make sure you look three or four times before you go out and just start riding your scooter around,” said Filimona. “If I don’t be safe, if I, like, go crazy on it, my mom’s just going to take it and they’ll return it.”
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