Can You Sue if You’re Injured Riding an Electric Scooter?

Electric scooters have been around for a long time, but their popularity has increased substantially over the last few years with the e-mobility rental vehicles being available in many cities across the country. The scooters are very helpful in getting around metropolitan downtown areas. They are easily rented from an App and they can be plugged in and re-charged for the next rider. They are relatively inexpensive with a $1.00 cost to unlock them from the App and 15-20 cents for each minute a ride takes.

BIRD AND LIME SCOOTERS

For the last couple of years, Bird and Lime scooters have been prevalent across Fort Lauderdale. They have provided a new resource for traveling in and around the “Venice of America,” as Fort Lauderdale is known. The 500 or so vibrantly colored electric scooters are able to zip in and zip out of places that other modes of transport just cannot go.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ARE INJURED IN AN ELECTRIC SCOOTER ACCIDENT?

If you should be involved in an accident riding an electric scooter, Florida law states that scooter users have a limited time to take legal action. If yours is a situation where a personal injury lawsuit may need to be filed, you must do so within a certain timeframe or risk your eligibility to recover damages.

RISKS/REWARDS OF SCOOTER USE

While riding the electric scooters can be a helpful convenience to getting around cities, they can also pose several risks for riders and others sharing the roadways with them. Unfortunately, a Fort Lauderdale Bird or Lime scooter accident has been in the news often, with some fatalities reported from their use as well. As trendy and convenient an e-solution as they may be, they can also be risky to ride.

Some potential problems for scooter riders are the same as for regular automobiles and vehicles, but the scooters are much, much smaller and riders are out in the open, leaving dangerous opportunities for serious injuries to occur. Just like motor vehicle drivers, riding an electric scooter can present possible issues with other distracted or impaired drivers, reckless drivers, drivers who are speeding, those drivers failing to yield appropriately, and “dooring” accidents. A “dooring” accident happens when a rider (electric scooter, bicyclist, or other) runs into a door that was just opened by someone in a vehicle in front of them, not knowing they were coming up from behind, causing the scooter rider to flip and fall, resulting in injury.

DEFINING LIABILITY

Who, then, is responsible for injury when riding an electric scooter? Just as in any motorist crash, the driver of another vehicle involved in your Fort Lauderdale Bird or Lime scooter accident could be cited for any of the above-listed reasons (distracted or drunk driving, failure to yield, speeding, reckless or negligent action). If a riding hazard, such as a broken piece of sidewalk, caused a crash, a premises liability claim may be the right course of action to recover any resulting damages. Depending on the situation, the scooter rental company could be found at fault, culminating in a potential personal injury lawsuit.

If you are involved in a Fort Lauderdale Bird or Lime scooter accident, contact a personal injury attorney to discover what methods of recourse you may have to get compensated for any damages occurring from an accident.