Scooter riders are injuring pedestrians

Negligent scooter enthusiasts crowd many metro areas, some injure pedestrians

Scooter riders are ignoring laws resulting in injured pedestrians.

Ride-sharing companies are placing electric vehicles on metro streets. Riders pay about $1 and then travel up to 15-20 miles-per-hour. Many rider ignore ride restriction bans and injure pedestrians.

Scooter rental requires no license. Nor is training required. Minors are enjoying the craze as well.

Scooter riders are injuring pedestrians

Scooter riders are injuring pedestrians on sidewalks and other walkways. In fact, news of injuries to both riders and pedestrians are making headlines nationwide. For example, a scooter rider struck a side-walk bound pedestrian in Dallas, Texas in July 2018. The scooter rider rode away. The injured pedestrian required stitches. A similar incident occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio in August 2018. In November 2018, a scooter rider collided with and killed a 90-year old woman in Barcelona Spain.

Responsibility for medical injuries is debated.

Is the ride-sharing company liable?

Injured riders and pedestrians are suing scooter ride-sharing companies. Thus, courts are now sorting out the questions about the scope of lability for scooter rental companies. For instance, a Colorado appellate court recently decided scooter ride-share company known as Lime owed no duty to the public to protect against injuries caused by its customer. The case, Harrington v. Neutron Holdings, involved a wrong-way scooter rider struck by a passenger car. The Colorado Court appears open the possibility that different circumstances may present a liability case against scooter rental companies. However, for now the Court expressly limited its holding. It decided that a company’s rental of electric scooters to third parties does not, in and of itself, give rise to a duty to members of the general public to protect them from users’ unsafe operation of the scooters.

Scooter crash injuries vary widely. Generally, the injuries are similar in nature to an automobile traveling at the same speed. Head injuries happen. And scars, cuts, bruises, broken bones and death happen. Contact The Stone Law Office at 877-845-4441 with questions about the scope of injuries that you or someone you know sustained in a scooter rider incident.

Some scooter owners offer rider/operators $1 million policies. The optional coverage likely requires an additional fee. While the scooter rider’s liability may be clear, scooter owners are resisting and disputing responsibility.

Scooter vendor/owners desire to liken themselves as car rental companies. But the differences are vast. For example, rental car companies require the presentation of a driver’s license.

The CDC is studying scooter safety

The CDC is studying the alarming rise in scooter injuries. For example, the CDC is exploring hazards presented to pedestrians by riders who ignore regulations. Preliminary data for the study shows 9 scooter related injuries in the 60 days covering September 29-October 31, 2018.