If you are injured by someone who is riding a scooter, your rights are the same as if that person caused a car crash. You are entitled to reimbursement for your medical bills, wage loss, and damaged personal property. You are also entitled to be paid for your pain and suffering which is the pain, inconveniences, and losses you suffer as a result of someone else injuring you. Usually, if you are injured in a car crash, the other person has auto insurance that will pay for most of these losses – and you will likely have auto insurance that will pay for some of them too. But when the injury is caused by someone riding a scooter, they may not have any insurance to compensate you and your insurance may not pay your bills either. It all depends on the circumstances and the insurance coverage involved. For this reason, it is especially important that you have health insurance so that most of your medical bills will be paid.
Here are a few tips to protect yourself against being injured by a scooter:
- ALWAYS be aware of your surroundings, especially if you see rental scooters nearby or people using scooters;
- ALWAYS look around before changing your path of travel to make sure there isn’t a scooter behind you or near you. Scooters move very quickly and are quiet – a simple turn to the left or right on a sidewalk may put you directly in the path of a scooter and cause you serious harm;
- Recognize that scooters are very dangerous and be cautious around them. You should assume that the people riding scooters are inexperienced, aren’t paying attention to where they are going, and that they may be impaired. Although it is the scooter rider’s responsibility to be careful, you should assume they aren’t, and you must be extra vigilant to protect yourself; and
- NEVER wear headphones or ear buds if you are in an area where scooters may be present because they prevent you from hearing a scooter or someone calling out to you.
Here are some tips if you are injured by a scooter:
- Get the name, address, phone number, and email address of the person who injured you. If you can, take a photo of their driver’s license – and take a photo of the person who injured you;
- Get the names and contact information for any witnesses;
- Take several photos of the scooter, the place where you were injured; and your obvious injuries (scrapes, cuts, bleeding, bruises, damaged property, etc.);
- Call the police and ask them to come to the scene to document the crash;
- Get medical care IMMEDIATELY, even if you think you aren’t injured; and
- Hire a lawyer. Scooter crashes are too tricky to handle on your own and the sooner you have a lawyer, the better. In addition, your lawyer can wade through all of the insurance issues and help you get your bills paid.
