Scooters may be a popular item for under the Christmas tree, buthealth and safety officials also say there is a “tremendouspotential for injury” with the latest holiday craze.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, over26,000 scooter-related injuries requiring emergency room treatmenthave been reported this year. Almost all, an estimated 85 to 90percent, have involved children under age 14 or 15.

Jane Jones, nurse manager at the King’s Daughters Medical Centeremergency room, said the hospital has not seen any scooter injuries– yet.

“We’ve not had the injuries, but we’re expecting them because alot of kids are getting the scooters for Christmas,” Jonessaid.

With its injury potential, Jones believes the scooter ranks withfour-wheelers, go carts and trampolines as dangerous presents forchildren.

“Those are the most common things we see children gettinginjuries from,” Jones said.

With go carts and four-wheelers, Jones said there is thepotential for rollovers and a child being crushed. The most commontrampoline-related injuries are broken arms and legs and skullfractures, Jones said.

Jones said parents can misjudge the appropriateness of someitems or their child’s maturity for handling a product. Also,parents may underestimate the precautions they think are necessaryto prevent injury, safety officials said.

“Parents have a false sense of security when it comes to theirkids and scooters,” said Julie Carter, with the Mississippi SafeKids Campaign. “Because these scooters have handlebars, brakes andare low to the ground, adults might feel their children can easilycontrol them. Without the appropriate safety gear, children cansustain severe injury, including head trauma.”

The Safe Kids Campaign offered several safety tips for childrenriding scooters:

* Wear appropriate safety gear, including a helmet, wristguards, elbow and knee pads.

* Make sure safety equipment fits properly and does notinterfere with vision or hearing.

* Children under 8 should not ride without close adultsupervision.

* Parents should check scooters for loose parts, bad wheels orother potential hazards before children ride.

* Ride scooters on smooth, paved surfaces. Don’t ride onsurfaces with water, dirt, sand or gravel.

* Don’t ride a scooter at night.

* Never hitch a ride from a car, bus, truck or other automobile,and limit usage to one person on the scooter at a time.

* Children should exercise caution when riding downhill. If ahill is too steep, step off the scooter and walk downhill.

“These are common-sense guidelines, but when you look at theoverwhelming number of scooter-related injuries this year, itappears the safety message is getting lost,” Carter said. “Parentsand caregivers must do better.”

Regarding scooters, Jones would like to see parents not buy themfor their children. However, she realizes many have already boughtthem or will be buying before the holiday.

“Parents want to give their children everything they want, butthat’s not always a good thing,” Jones said.