Two crashes involving children on motorized vehicles in Billings this week are part of a growing national trend of e-scooter and e-bike injuries among kids.Watch school traffic safety story here: Billings police say E-scooter an d e-bike crashes bring reminder of awareness and cautionAccording to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, e-scooter injuries rose 43 percent in 2025.Children under 14 saw the sharpest increase, with a 64 percent jump from 2024 to 2025.Nationwide, injuries spike in August and September as kids return to school.Two crashes this week help remind that people need to be careful around schools.Billings police responded to a crash in the Heights on Tuesday after a child riding a motorized scooter was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Nutter Boulevard, Lake Hills Drive, and Wicks Lane.The child was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.On Thursday morning, officers responded to another crash in the Heights involving a child on a mini motorcycle.The middle schooler was hit by a car after riding on the sidewalk.Billings police say to look out for children and adults who may be riding with vehicle traffic."The motorcyclists have that slogan, 'look twice and save a life,'" said Sgt. Jeff Stovall of the Billings Police Department. "So it's the same thing. Make sure we're checking our blind spots. Make sure we're giving ourselves ample time to make turns and to slow down before we do that, you know, double, triple checking every time."According to Stovall, under Montana law, mini motorcycles are classified as motor vehicles, meaning they must be registered and ridden on the street. Riding them on the sidewalk is illegal.Stovall said this is the first school year the department has seen such a significant increase in motorized devices being used by school-age children."This is really the first school year where we're encountering this, where there's such an influx in those being utilized by our school-age kids," Stovall said.Stovall added that speed and safety awareness are central concerns."They're very high speed," Stovall said. "They can be dangerous, and they need to have safety equipment and understand the rules and regulations with those."Near Big Sky Elementary School, crossing guard Kristine Wilson works to keep children safe as they travel to and from school along South 32nd Street West and Lampman Drive.She said some drivers do not stop even when she is walking children through the crosswalk."He'll take a step forward, he'll take a step back because there's a car going by, my own child," Wilson said.Wilson said the most dangerous window is in the mid-afternoon."3:10, 3:15-ish, that's when we get a lot of the cars that will just not stop," Wilson said.Residents near the Heights described the morning traffic as heavy, with cars streaming out of neighborhoods all at once."They come out of the neighborhood," said Cody Snow, a Heights resident. "Everybody comes out at the same time to go to school or work or whatever we got for the day, and it's just an endless line of cars."Another resident said children on bikes can be safe in the area as long as they stay alert."Safe enough as long as they're paying attention," said Dennis Munger.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less