An e-scooter is seen in a street of Hongdae, Seoul’s Mapo District, below a banner announcing the area's designation as a no-scooter zone. (Yonhap)
An e-scooter is seen in a street of Hongdae, Seoul’s Mapo District, below a banner announcing the area's designation as a no-scooter zone. (Yonhap)

A South Korean teenage boy suffered a serious head injury earlier this month after a police officer grabbed him during a crackdown on electric scooter violations in Incheon, causing him and a friend to fall at a crosswalk, local reports said Tuesday.

The injured teen was one of two boys riding a single electric scooter without helmets or a driver’s license.

Around 2:45 p.m. on June 13, the two fell hard at a crosswalk after a police officer attempted to stop them by grabbing one of them by the arm.

The boy riding on the back began convulsing immediately after the fall and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was diagnosed with a traumatic brain hemorrhage and a skull fracture. He was hospitalized for 10 days and discharged after his condition improved with treatment.

The injured boy’s parents reportedly plan to file both criminal and civil complaints against the police officer, describing the incident as the result of “excessive enforcement” by police.

The officer, affiliated with Samsan Police Station in Incheon’s Bupyeong District, responded by saying, “The situation seemed dangerous at the time, so I stepped in for safety reasons. I feel sorry the boy was hurt and offered to help with the medical expenses, but his parents declined.”

Under the current Road Traffic Act, electric scooter riders must be at least 16 years old and have a motorcycle or moped license.

Those caught riding without a license face a fine of 100,000 won ($73). Riders who fail to wear protective gear are fined 20,000 won, while carrying a passenger on a single-rider scooter results in a fine of 40,000 won.

Electric scooter-related accidents have continued to rise in recent years.

According to data released by the Korea Road Traffic Authority on June 18, a total of 9,639 accidents were reported between 2020 and 2024, jumping from 897 cases in 2020 to 2,232 in 2024.

Amid growing concerns over the dangers of personal mobility devices, the Seoul Metropolitan Government last month introduced the country’s first “scooter-free streets" in parts of the city’s Mapo and Seocho districts.

The ban, which applies to electric scooters, self-balancing scooters and bicycles powered solely by a motor, is enforced from noon to 11 p.m. on some streets in the Hongdae area and the cram school zone in Banpo, Seocho District.


cjh@heraldcorp.com