Two young children were injured in separate e-scooter accidents around the same time yesterday. Both incidents happened around 7pm, yesterday (12 Apr).
In one case, an 11-year-old girl lost two teeth and needed jaw and gum realignment when an e-scooter rider crashed into her from behind as she was walking along the sidewalk outside Pasir Ris East Community Club.
The girl’s mother received a phone call alerting that her daughter, Ardini Nabila, was bleeding at the mouth at the scene around 7.15pm. Ardini’s father, Mr Rahmat Nizam Samat told reporters:
“I made my way there and found out she had been hit from the back by an e-scooter rider. The doctors at KK hospital had to realign my kid’s jaw and gums. She lost two teeth due to the incident and sustained cuts and abrasions to her head and under her right eye, as well as to her left palm, elbows and knees. She was given seven days of MC and will need to return (on Friday) for further check-ups.”
Mr Rahmat revealed more details to another daily and indicated that he found his daughter with a towel by her mouth when he and his wife rushed to the scene. He recounted: “When I took the towel away, I saw that her jaw was misaligned and her gums appeared to be pushed back…She was in a lot of pain.”
Adding that his daughter has only been able to eat a few slices of watermelon so far, he lamented: “It’s disheartening as a father to see my daughter to go thru all this at this young age.”
In another case the same day, a six-year-old boy was conveyed to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital after another e-scooter rider crashed into the boy near Punggol Park around the same time Ardini was hit.
An eyewitness, Mr Su who was jogging in the area, told Channel 8 that he approached the scene when he saw a crowd gathered there and saw blood on the middle-aged e-scooter rider’s hands, besides noticing that the e-scooter was damaged
Revealing that he believed the boy must have hit the back of his head, Mr Su recalled: “The boy was crying very badly. It seems he was in a lot of pain and his family members were comforting him…For the e-scooter to be damaged, the impact must have been great.”
Mr Su added that the rider apologised to the boy’s family.
While the 24-year-old rider who crashed into 11-year-old Ardini has been arrested over a case of rash act causing hurt, it appears that the rider who injured the six-year-old boy has not been arrested yet. Police investigations are ongoing.
Many netizens, responding to news of two children being the latest victims of the recent string of e-scooter accidents, are calling on the authorities to ban the personal mobility devices:
