5-Year-Old Girl Struck By Electric Bike, Dragged 50 Feet Down Street In A Freak Accident

KEY POINTS

Emily Hill was being picked up from her aunt's house when the incident occurred
A bunch of hair on the side of her head was torn off and her skull was exposed
The rider of the bike, 22, was being questioned by authorities

A five-year-old girl in the U.K. has been scarred for life and in need of cosmetic surgery after she was hit by a "near-silent" electric bike that dragged her 50ft down the street in a freak accident.

The accident took place in Keighley, West Yorkshire, on June 11 when Emily Hill and her brother Charlie were waiting for their parents to pick them up from their aunt's house.

Emily was getting into her parents' car at the end of a quiet road when the rider of the dirt bike drove through the bollards of the footpath at the opposite side, jumped into the road, and collided with her, dragging her 50 feet down the road, National World reported.

Emily got 24 stitches for the facial and head injuries she suffered in the crash, with doctors saying she may need a hair-follicle graft surgery on to the side of her head, the report said.

The head wound Emily suffered was so severe that a bunch of her hair was torn off and her skull was exposed to the bone, AOL reported.

"Nothing prepares you for seeing your child’s skull. I felt sick," Emily's mother, Leigh, 23, told National World. "You vow to protect your children and then something awful like this happens and you haven’t been able to."

"A 22-year-old man has been reported for offenses relating to a collision in Keighley on 11 June 2021," a spokesperson from West Yorkshire police told AOL.

The bike rider was being questioned by police after the incident. He was apparently riding a Sur-Ron L1E model which is marketed as "nearly silent." There are reportedly two models available in the market with 30 and 47-speed limits.

"Many people think electric bikes are safe, but we have learned the hardest way possible they are not," Leigh said, adding: "These bikes are dangerous. They are silent and can move as fast as a car. There are no checks that the people who buy or ride them will do so safely. They are targeted at teens and young adults, but they are not toys."

Leigh insisted that the makers should design the dirt bikes to make a humming sound like electronic bikes and cars.