KATY, Texas — An 11-year-old Katy ISD student has died after being struck by a vehicle while riding an electric scooter in a Katy-area neighborhood Thursday afternoon, according to the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.
The crash happened shortly after 5 p.m. near Roesner Road and Elk Ridge Lane in the Pine Mill Ranch subdivision.
The girl suffered serious injuries and was flown to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where the child later died. Katy ISD confirmed the child was a student at Tays Junior High School.
The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office is investigating the crash. Authorities have not publicly released detailed information about how the collision occurred or identified the driver.
Constable: Electric devices shouldn't be viewed as toys
The girl's death is drawing renewed attention to concerns that local law enforcement officials and Katy ISD leaders had already raised about children operating electric scooters, e-bikes and more powerful electric motorcycles.
Fort Bend County Precinct 1 Constable Chad Norvell told Covering Katy that parents need to understand the risks associated with the increasingly popular devices.
“Whether it’s an e-motorcycle, e-bike or scooter, all of these devices go fast and shouldn’t be viewed as toys,” Norvell said. “Kids simply don’t have the situational awareness and perception-reaction ability to handle them safely.”
Norvell said parents who decide to allow their children to use the devices need to make sure they understand how to operate around traffic.
“If parents insist on buying their child one, they need to spend time with them repeatedly discussing traffic laws and rules of the road,” Norvell said.
Concerns had already reached Katy ISD
The warning follows months of discussion in the Katy area about children riding electric devices to school.
Earlier this year, Norvell and Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Terry Albritton asked Katy ISD to address students riding unregistered electric motorcycles and electric dirt bikes to school. Their concerns centered on children operating the devices in congested school zones and around other students.
Tays Junior High — the school attended by the child killed Thursday — was among the campuses specifically identified during the earlier debate over electric dirt bikes.
The concerns eventually reached the Katy ISD Board of Trustees, where trustees discussed students riding battery-powered dirt bikes to school and parking them on district campuses.
Trustee Nathan Shipley said during that discussion that the problem extended well beyond Katy ISD.
“It’s become, I would argue, an epidemic in the state,” Shipley said. “It’s not a KISD problem. It is just absolutely out of control.”
Shipley described seeing children riding electric dirt bikes to school and said the district needed a mechanism to keep vehicles that are not street legal off its campuses.
Katy ISD administrators emphasized during the discussion that not all electric devices are the same. They distinguished traditional electric scooters and pedal-assist e-bikes from more powerful battery-powered dirt bikes and electric motorcycles that function more like motor vehicles.
The district subsequently strengthened its rules addressing unlicensed motorized vehicles on campuses, including electric motorcycles and electric minibikes.
Electric vehicle concerns extend beyond Katy ISD
The issue has also drawn attention elsewhere in the Katy-Fulshear area.
Fulshear adopted an ordinance in October 2025 regulating electric scooters and electric bicycles, with an emphasis on rider and pedestrian safety and clarifying where the devices may be operated.
The city later launched an education campaign involving local schools, the Fulshear Police Department and its Youth Advisory Commission. The effort included school-specific safety materials, bike and scooter parking signs and direct outreach to students.
The broader debate has also highlighted the substantial differences among electric vehicles marketed to families.
Electric bicycles recognized under Texas law generally fall into three classes and have pedals. Other battery-powered vehicles sold to young riders can more closely resemble motorcycles or dirt bikes and may reach substantially higher speeds.
During a Fulshear City Council discussion of the issue, officials described encountering a young rider who said his electric bike could reach 62 mph.
Questions remain about Thursday's crash
Authorities have not publicly identified the specific make or model of electric scooter involved in Thursday's fatal crash or said how fast it was capable of traveling.
That distinction is important. Electric scooters, pedal-assist e-bikes, electric dirt bikes and electric motorcycles can differ dramatically in power, speed and how they are treated under Texas law.
There is also no indication at this point that excessive speed by the child contributed to Thursday's collision.
The Sheriff's Office has not announced whether speed, visibility, roadway conditions or another factor contributed to the crash.
The investigation remains ongoing.
This story will be updated as additional information becomes available.