Local police data confirm what anyone who has spent time near a Las Vegas-area school during morning drop-off or afternoon dismissal already suspects: e-scooters and e-bikes are everywhere — and children are getting hurt.

Figures compiled by the Clark County School District Police Department tell a striking story: 327 children this school year have been struck by cars before and after school, more than triple the total from all of last school year. And nearly half of those victims — 151 children — were riding e-scooters or e-bikes, modes of transportation that were barely a factor just a couple of years ago.

The danger is easy to understand. A child on a standard bicycle might reach 5 to 10 mph under their own pedal power. Some electric scooters and bikes can match the speed of a car.

“If you’re going 35 or 40 miles an hour on one of these E-devices and something goes wrong, that can be catastrophic,” said Lt. Michael Campbell of the CCSDPD traffic division.

Campbell has started compiling and posting data from all the county’s police agencies involving children hit by cars.

His criteria are specific: victims 18 and under, on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., who were not traveling inside a vehicle — meaning kids on foot, on nonmotorized bicycles, skateboards or kick scooters, or operating electric scooters and bikes.

For each incident, Campbell breaks down the data by injury severity, mode of transportation, age, gender, location, time of day and the school the child attended.

Under these criteria, four children, all between the ages of 10 and 12, have been killed and 12 have been seriously injured, with the rest suffering minor or claimed injuries or not being hurt.

Last year, 98 children were hit; eight were on e-scooters and two on e-bikes. McKenzie Scott, 18, was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk on Buffalo Drive near Arbor View High School when she was struck and killed by a driver later convicted of felony DUI.

Of the four who died this year, two were walking, one was on a standard bicycle and one was on an e-scooter. Of the 12 with serious injuries, five were walking and four were on e-scooters.

Erin Breen, director of UNLV’s Road Equity Alliance Project, acknowledged that Campbell’s data has its limitations — it captures a handful of children too young to be in school, and some incidents had no connection to school at all. Even so, she praised his commitment to the issue and said police and local governments were genuinely working toward a solution.

“But they need the parents to pay attention,” she said. “They need the parents’ help.”

Breen said she wished parents would stop buying e-scooters and e-bikes for their kids. If they don’t have a driver’s license, they shouldn’t be on them, she said.

‘They’re less predictable’

Campbell’s data for the current school year show that the statistically most likely victim is 14 years old, riding an e-scooter on a Wednesday between 2 and 3 p.m. Crashes occur around the valley, with no disproportionately strong concentration in the city cores or the suburbs.

High school students of all ages were most represented, at 179 of the 327 victims. Of those 179 high schoolers, 94 were on an e-scooter or e-bike.

“They’re going faster, and when they go faster, they’re less predictable,” he said. “People aren’t expecting them to come up as fast as they are and in the areas that they are. They’re going from the sidewalk to the street and back and forth.”

He has data back to the 2022-23 school year, but prior years aren’t as detailed or consistent as this year. He acknowledged that this year’s figures could reflect data being better and more widely captured. But there’s other evidence suggesting these collisions are increasing.

Last year, CCSD Police responded to 95 car crashes of all types just within their relatively limited jurisdiction. This year, it has responded to 328. Campbell said CCSDPD has been more proactive in making stops and issuing warnings, tickets and arresting drivers for traffic violations.

“But you know, we would hope that the amount of kids being struck would go down,” he said. CCSDPD, by itself, has investigated more crashes than ever, and he doesn’t know why.

The company the state works with to compile traffic data sends his requested countywide numbers to him directly at least once a week.

“Everybody’s invested in student safety and lowering the number and trying to figure out ways or correlation of why this is happening,” he said.

Police determine who is at fault in collisions. In these crashes, 54% of the time, it’s the driver, the data show.

But although the child has been “at fault” close to half the time, Breen urged motorists to keep a sharp eye and give grace to the young, often small person exposed on a street or sidewalk.

“Do yourself a favor and pay better attention and stop for the kiddos, even when they’re doing what they’re not supposed to be doing,” she said.