You may or may not be familiar with the craze taking metropolitan cities by storm.. The Electric Scooters – also referred to as electric rental scooters, rideshare scooters, and motorized scooters – but if you aren’t, you very likely soon will be. As their popularity continues to skyrocket at an exponential rate, Shamis & Gentile is seeing an increase in personal injury electric scooter accident lawsuits. If you’ve been injured while operating an electric scooter, contact an electric scooter accident attorney at Shamis & Gentile, P.A.
Electric Scooter Accident Attorney Reveals The Dangers of Electric Scooters
While electric scooters do offer a number of benefits – faster transportation, environmentally friendly, reduced road traffic – there are also a number of dangers posed to both users and pedestrians.
The 4 general concerns are:
- Sidewalk Riding
- Speed
- Car Accidents
- Abandoned Scooters
Electric Scooter Sidewalk Riding
In some states and cities, riding electric scooters on the sidewalk is banned. However, in other locations, riding on the sidewalk is not specifically disallowed.
Riding on the sidewalk poses a number of threats to users and pedestrians. The likelihood of a user/pedestrian collision is much higher when the user is operating the scooter on a sidewalk, especially in high congestion areas. At the high rate of speed that these scooters are able to travel, a collision can cause major injury, especially to a pedestrian.
Objects on the sidewalk – poles, trash cans, trash, benches, etc. – also pose a risk to users, especially if they are not experienced in operating the machines. User’s don’t go through a driver’s education program before they are allowed to operate the scooters, so they must learn how to operate the scooters in a learn-as-you-go fashion. It may take some time to adjust to the scooter’s mobility and speed, and avoiding pedestrians and objects on the sidewalks can be very challenging to new users.
Need For Speed on an Electric Scooter
These electric scooters travel at up to 15mph, which is comparable to the average speed of a common cyclist in the city. In an accident, this high rate of speed can cause major injury. This is especially true if the user is not wearing proper safety gear.
Electric Scooter – Car Accidents
In some states and cities, users are encouraged to stay off of the sidewalk and use the roadway when traveling on an electric scooter. In an effort to reduce the risk of user/pedestrian collisions, the user faces an even more dangerous threat – cars. While the damage inflicted on a car from an electric scooter collision is likely minimal, the threat to the user can be severe and even deadly. Because the scooters are much lighter than cars and offer very little protection to users, an accident involving a car would inflict about the same damage as an accident with a car and a walking pedestrian. Because of the higher rate of speed that electric scooters can travel at, head on collisions would be much more dangerous for scooter users as compared to pedestrians.
Although scooter users are required to follow the rules of the road while operating a scooter, both lack of experience and lack of punitive response to improper use leads some users to break these rules. Because there are few safety standards for these scooters, car accidents can have fatal consequences.
Abandoned Electric Scooters
Electric scooters offer the unique ability for users to leave a scooter in any location after they are done using it. This means that, often times, scooters are left in walkways and on roadways. While the electric. scooters do have kickstands to keep them upright while they are not in use, not all users choose to use the kickstand. Scooters can be found lying flat on the ground on sidewalks, crossing areas, roadways etc.
Abandoned scooters (especially lying flat) pose a risk to pedestrians, who can easily trip over them. It also poses a risk to cars and other scooter users, who can easily run into them.
It may be surprising to learn that a large portion of Bird Scooter accident lawsuits, Lime Scooter accident lawsuits, Lyft Scooter accident lawsuits, and other rental scooter accident lawsuits have been filed on behalf of pedestrians that have suffered an injury due to tripping over a scooter that wasn’t even in operation.
Contact a Electric Scooter Accident Attorney Today!
If you are involved in an electric scooter accident, you should contact a Bird Electric Scooter accident attorney, Bolt Electric Scooter accident attorney, LimeElectric Scooter accident attorney or Electric Scooter accident attorney right away. You may be eligible to participate in a Bird Electric Scooter accident lawsuit, Bolt Electric Scooter accident lawsuit, Lime Electric Scooter accident lawsuit, Lyft Electric Scooter accident lawsuit, and other electric scooter rental accident lawsuits.
Shamis & Gentile, P.A. offers free no-obligation case consultations for any potential Bolt Scooter accident lawsuit, Bird Scooter accident lawsuit, Lime Scooter accident lawsuit, Lyft Scooter accident lawsuit, and other rental scooter accident lawsuits.
One of our experienced electric scooter accident attorneys would be happy to review and discuss your case, free of charge.
If you are involved in an electric scooter accident in Miami, contact a personal injury Electric Scooter accident attorney today!
