The family of a five-year-old boy thought he had been killed when he was struck by an e-scooter on the Costa del Sol this week.
The tot was left seriously injured after being struck by the vehicle in Manilva on Tuesday afternoon.
The incident occurred at around 4pm on Calle Utopia, close to the town’s music school. Local Police have since detained the rider, according to municipal sources.
The child had been walking with his grandparents when, according to his mother Ariday Garcia, a young man on an e-scooter came ‘at very high speed and in the wrong direction’.
Speaking to AZ Costa del Sol, she said the rider attempted to avoid a vehicle travelling correctly in its lane, lost control and collided directly with her son.
‘The boy flew through the air, landed face-first and ended up underneath the car,’ Garcia said.
His grandmother, who witnessed the impact at close range, thought the worst, adding: ‘I thought they had killed him.’
The rider also fell from the scooter but, according to the family’s account, got back up and fled the scene.
Emergency services transferred the child to Hospital Costa del Sol in Marbella, where he received treatment before later being discharged.
Garcia claims it was not the first time her son has had problems with e-scooters in the same area.
‘The Town Hall told us that a month ago Local Police had already confiscated this same boy’s scooter after a similar incident, he’s a repeat offender,’ she said.
Manilva Town Hall has confirmed that the rider has been fully identified and has already given a statement to police.
The family said they will lodge an official denuncia and are calling for urgent tightening of e-scooter regulations.
‘The current rules are not enough. There should be licences, penalty points, restrictions, something,’ Garcia added.
‘They’re circulating on public roads without responsibility and putting everyone at risk.
‘People need to be aware. What happened to my son could happen to anyone.’
Read more Costa del Sol news at the Spanish Eye.
E-Scooters and their riders are out of control all over Spain. It’s a cheap way for people to get around. There in lies the problem. They are easily accessible and are dangerous in untrained hands. The solution is to require training, licensing and insurance coverage. Make the test easy, the licence and training cheap. After that enforce the law. Where I live scooter rider don’t have helmet, ride 2 up, go the wrong way down one ways, ride in pedestrian only areas and the police do nothing. So many people have been injured.