Haverford Township is beginning the warning period phase this week of a new ordinance requiring kids 16 and under on e-scooters and e-bikes to wear helmets, reports the 6abc digital staff.

From now until the new year, parents will be given a warning if children are caught on e-scooters or e-bikes without a helmet. It also applies to passengers or children riding in an attached restraining seat or trailer.

Starting New Year’s Day, 2026, police will fine the parents $25 for each violation.

The new ordinance was created following the death of 12-year-old Abigail Gillon after an e-scooter crash in Aston.

In Marple, a family is also speaking out about e-scooter safety after their teenage son, Michael McCullough, now 15, suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was hit by a car on July 26, 2024. He was not wearing a helmet at the time.

“He spent every day riding his scooter that summer, where we finally let him have some freedoms,” said his mother, Dana McCullough. “I was naive to all of this. Naive that my kid could not be coming home one day.”

Marple Township Police Chief Brandon Graeff emphasized that e-scooters cannot be operated on the streets or sidewalks in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and that Marple would be enforcing existing restrictions more aggressively.

“We are going to stop them, and we’re going to inconvenience the parents, notify the parents, let them know, ‘Hey, we are with your child here, come get him or her,’” Graeff said.

Marple is also working on a local ordinance to ban e-scooters.

Find out more about Haverford’s helmet crackdown at 6abc.

Read more about Marple’s response at 6abc.