Electric Scooter Accident Lawyers in Southern California
Electric scooters have seemingly taken over the streets in some of the nation’s largest cities. As the use of e-scooters has risen, so has the frequency of injuries to riders and pedestrians. According to Reuters, e-scooter injury rates in America tripled between 2016 and 2020.
The Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman, P.C. represents people injured in e-scooter accidents in Southern California. Our clients include people who rented e-scooters as well as pedestrians injured by e-scooter riders. Our personal injury lawyers apply decades of litigation experience to help clients obtain maximum compensation for the harms they’ve suffered.
E-Scooter Accident Scenarios
Injuries and hospital admissions involving shareable e-scooters occur in a variety of ways, most often tracing back to a:
- Single-rider crash or accident that causes the e-scooter operator to be injured and no one else is harmed
- Collision between an e-scooter and a bystander or pedestrian
- Collision between an e-scooter and car, truck or other motor vehicle
- A pedestrian tripping and falling over an e-scooter that has been left on a sidewalk or other location
The injuries that occur in e-scooter accidents can range from mild to severe. Studies show that between 30 and 40 percent of e-scooter injuries are head injuries. Other common injuries include broken bones, lacerations, and soft tissue damage.
Who Bears Liability for E-Scooter Accidents?
Determining fault and assigning legal liability in an e-scooter accident depends on how the accident happened.
For single-rider accidents, the rider’s inexperience may be a major factor in the crash. But, these single-person accidents may also occur because of a rough patch or major crack in a poorly maintained sidewalk. If so, the city may be liable for the rider’s injuries. Or, the e-scooter itself may have defective brakes that apply themselves unexpectedly, throwing the rider off the device. This occurred with a number of e-scooters owned by Lime in the past.
For collisions between riders and pedestrians, the rider is sometimes at fault, such as when they were operating the scooter too fast on a crowded sidewalk and struck a walker or runner. Other times, the pedestrian could bear responsibility, such as when someone walks out into a bike lane and an e-scooter rider, who is following the rules and staying in the lane, strike the pedestrian.
For collisions between cars and e-scooters, again liability will depend on the scenario. There are cases where the rider is at fault. But often the driver of a car or truck bears most of the responsibility because they, for example, turned without looking properly and struck an e-scooter rider or were parked on the side of the road and opened their car door without looking, striking oncoming scooter rider.
What Happens When Someone Gets Hurt Tripping Over an Abandoned Scooter?
Because scooters are rented using apps, they don’t have to be docked anywhere, so renters can leave them anywhere. Scooters are often left in areas where pedestrians trip and fall over them. In these cases, the pedestrian may be able to bring a claim against the:
- Rider who left the e-scooter, if he/she can be located
- E-scooter company itself, if the scooter was left for an unreasonably long time
- Owner of the property where the scooter was left
- City, if the city is responsible for rounding up abandoned scooters
Contact an E-Scooter Crash Lawyer for a Consultation
If you were hurt riding a scooter or as a pedestrian, the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman, P.C. can evaluate the situation and potentially pursue legal action. Call 1-877-619-8966 or send us an email to arrange a case evaluation. Our main office is in Southern California and we have additional offices in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
