12-Year-Old Hospitalized After High-Powered E-Motorcycle Crash In Michigan

A 12-year-old is in serious but stable condition after crashing a high-powered electric motorcycle into a parked pickup truck in Rochester Hills.

Michigan Parents Getting A Warning About High-Powered E-Motorcycles

WWJ reports that it happened Thursday night, and police say the kid was knocked unconscious and had to be rushed to the hospital. Now, here's what really caught my attention. Investigators say this electric motorcycle can hit speeds of more than 45 miles an hour. That's not exactly puttering around the neighborhood on a bicycle.

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The kid was wearing a helmet, which is obviously better than nothing, but it was a bicycle helmet, not one designed and rated for a motorcycle. And the Oakland County sheriff is basically saying parents need to understand what they're buying. Because some of these electric bikes and motorcycles can look like toys, but they're capable of motorcycle speeds.

What Michigan Parents Should Know

Sheriff Bouchard said in a statement:

These high-powered electric motorcycles are capable of reaching speeds that can cause catastrophic injuries in a matter of seconds, and they should never be treated as toys.

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And if you've got a kid riding something that can do 45 miles an hour, you really need to know the rules, where they can legally ride it, whether it needs registration or licensing, and most importantly, what safety equipment they should actually be wearing.

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The crash is still being investigated. Hopefully this kid makes a full recovery, and maybe this serves as a reminder that just because something has an electric motor and looks like a bicycle doesn't mean it's a bicycle.