What Happens if I Get Hurt on an E-Scooter?

What Happens if I Get Hurt on an E-Scooter?

Electric or e-scooters have grown increasingly popular in urban areas for chauffeuring people around the city. These eco-friendly motor vehicles make getting around convenient and offer a quick and easy solution for short travels, but riding them also comes with intrinsic risks.

If you have suffered an injury on an e-scooter or suffered the loss of a loved one as a result of an e-scooter accident, consult with Philadelphia personal lawyers to discuss your legal rights immediately. You may be eligible to recover financial compensation for damages and non-economic losses incurred.

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Table of Contents

• What to Do Immediately After an E-Scooter Accident (and What Not to Do)
• Types of Liability Involved in an E-Scooter Accident
• Proving Liability in Electric Scooter Personal Injury Cases
• Types of Damages You Can Seek Compensation for if You Get Hurt in an E-Scooter Accident
• How Can a Personal Injury Attorney Help Me After Being Hurt on an E-Scooter
• Speak With A Personal Injury Attorney Today

How Often Do People Get Hurt on an E-Scooter?

E-scooter injuries have soared in recent years. A report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) shows that injuries associated with all micro mobility devices (e-scooters, e-bicycles, and hoverboards) increased by nearly 21 percent in a recent year. Injuries from micro-mobility vehicles have trended upward since 2017, increasing an average of 23 percent annually.

Get Proper Medical Evaluation and a Diagnosis of Injuries

Regardless of how you feel, you must have medical professionals assess your injuries and give you a proper diagnosis. It's important to remember that some symptoms of e-scooter accidents, like whiplash, can take days to develop.

Your doctor may advise you to take it easy for a few days while your body fully responds to the accident's impact.

Mindfully Follow Your Physician's Orders

Follow your doctor's orders. A medical professional will give you discharge instructions that may include limitations on things like how much weight you can lift at work or restrictions on lifting or working altogether. Trying to jump right back into your everyday life against the advice of a physician may result in more severe symptoms or prolonged recovery.

Keep a Post-Accident Journal to Document Recovery

Keeping a post-accident journal is the best way to document non-economic damages that your attorney will calculate compensation for, such as:

• Pain levels
• Physical symptoms 
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Limited or restricted ability to perform everyday tasks

Families suffering from the loss of a loved one should document the loss of consortium (love and companionship) in a post-accident journal for their wrongful death claim or lawsuit.

Families whose loved ones suffered permanent injuries (paraplegia, quadriplegia, traumatic brain injuries, amputation, etc.) should also journal about the loss of consortium, documenting things like no longer being able to go for morning walks together or engage in marital relations.

These admissions will help your attorney prove non-economic damages experienced from the accident so they can recover financial compensation for them.

Avoid Talking to Insurance Company Representatives or Adjusters

Shortly after an e-scooter accident, you can count on the at-fault party's insurance company contacting you with questions designed to get you to say something dismissing their liability. Most insurers will ask you to give a recorded statement about the accident and how you feel after it.

Do not give a recorded statement. Refer the insurance adjuster to your lawyer. Again, a delay in symptoms may affect you the following days after an e-scooter accident. If you tell them that you feel fine and three days later you wake up with whiplash, it may be more challenging to prove you suffered an injury.

If you have already provided a recorded statement to the insurance company, contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss your immediate actions.

Avoid Posting on Social Media About an E-Scooter Accident

While it may be second nature to run to your social media accounts to update followers on what's going on in your life, refrain from posting about the e-scooter accident online.

An insurance company may use social media posts and their comments to delay or deny liability and your claim. If you've already posted on social feeds, inform your attorney, and they will advise you further about the matter.

Seek a Free Consultation With a Personal Injury Attorney

Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee arrangement, meaning there are no upfront fees or out-of-pocket costs to their clients. Retaining an attorney creates a safety barrier between you and insurance company tactics like pressuring you to settle too quickly or accept a lowball offer. It also grants your case a better chance of being taken seriously without claim delay or denial.

Types of Liability Involved in an E-Scooter Accident

Multiple parties may be liable in an e-scooter accident, including the rider, the driver of another vehicle, the e-scooter company, or the electric scooter manufacturers.

• Vehicle Hitting E-Scooter: A driver who hits an e-scooter rider due to negligence, including tired, distracted driving, and intoxicated driving, may be liable for damages.
• E-Scooter Driver: An e-scooter rider may be negligent in driving, resulting in an accident. It may include causing a vehicle to swerve or brake abruptly. An e-scooter rider may also be distracted or impaired, causing accidents with pedestrians.
• E-Scooter Company: Electric scooter manufacturers can be held liable for accidents caused by defects in their scooters, such as manufacturing issues, design flaws, and lack of warnings.

Roadway defects like uneven pavement, rutting, stress fractures, and potholes are dangerous for e-scooter riders. If the city had a reasonable duty of care to repair the defects before the accident, they may also be liable for damages.

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Proving Liability in Electric Scooter Personal Injury Cases

To prove liability in an e-scooter accident claim, the victim or their attorney must prove the at-fault party (defendant) was negligent, causing or contributing to the accident.

Establishing Negligence in E-Scooter Injury Cases

You or an experienced attorney will need to establish the four elements of negligence after you get hurt on an e-scooter:

• Duty of Care: Parties involved in e-scooter accidents are legally obligated to act reasonably and prevent other electronic scooter riders, motorists, and pedestrians from harm.
• Breach of Duty: When a party fails to uphold its duty, it breaches it. For example, a motorist who fails to yield to an e-scooter rider has breached their duty of care. An e-scooter rider who disregards traffic signals, injuring a pedestrian, has breached their duty. 
• Causation: An injured party or their attorney must clearly connect the breach of duty and your injuries. For example, if a rider suffered an injury because the driver of a vehicle ran a red light, causal links implying the driver was negligent can be established by your attorney.
• Damages: An injured party is responsible for proving they've suffered quantifiable damages, including medical expenses, lost income, emotional distress, and pain and suffering.

An attorney will use evidence, including police reports, eyewitness statements, medical records, expert witnesses, and photos or video footage documenting the crash, to prove negligence.

Types of Damages You Can Seek Compensation for if You Get Hurt in an E-Scooter Accident

E-scooter accident victims may be entitled to recover compensation for financial losses and non-economic damages. There are several damages a victim can seek compensation for, such as:

Medical Damages

Any medical expenses incurred due to an e-scooter accident are recoverable damages in your claim. Typical expenses may include:

• Emergency services like ambulances and ER visits
• Hospital stays
• Doctor visits
• Rehabilitation services
• Medical devices
• Prescription medications

In-home modifications to accommodate mobility with long-term or permanent injuries, such as wheelchair ramps, stair chair lifts, and accessible bathrooms, may also be recoverable damages.

Lost Income Damages

Lost income is the amount of money you or your deceased loved one would have earned if not injured in an e-scooter accident. Lost income includes:

• Lost income or salary due to missed time
• Lost bonuses due to missed time
• Loss of promotion opportunity due to injuries sustained in the accident
• Loss of benefits such as health and retirement due to inability to work

Keep copies of pay stubs and income tax documents to record your loss of income. Securing a statement from your employer verifying lost income, such as promotions and bonuses, may benefit your case.

Property Damages 

Property damages include vehicle damages and damages to any personal property involved in the collision. Some examples are smartphones, business computers, clothing, and child safety seats.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are compensation for non-monetary losses from personal injuries sustained in accidents. For example:

• Physical pain and discomfort
• Emotional distress
• Psychological trauma
• Decrease in quality of life
• Worsening of prior injuries
• Disabilities and permanent impairments
• Shame, humiliation, and embarrassment
• Reputational damage
• Scars and disfigurement

Remember to document non-economic damages in a post-accident journal properly. This practice will help keep the information organized and presentable when negotiating for these damages.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are rare in a personal injury claim and can only be awarded by a judge and jury if your case goes to trial. Punitive damages are sought only in severe instances when the defendant needs to be taught a lesson for their negligence and wrongdoing.

Wrongful Death Damages

Families who have suffered the loss of a loved one due to the negligence and wrongdoing of another may be eligible to recover compensation. Damages you may be compensated for in a wrongful death claim include:

• Medical Expenses: The costs of medical care and treatment provided to a deceased loved one before their untimely death.
• Funeral and Burial Expenses: These are the costs of a loved one's final arrangements, such as a funeral, burial, or cremation.
• Loss of Income and Earnings Capacity: Economic damages tallying the loss of the deceased loved one's future income and earning capacity. 
• Loss of Services and Support: The monetary value ascribed to the services and support a deceased person would have provided their family, like childcare, household chores, and any other contributions they would have made to their family's well-being.

Families can also seek non-economic damages in a wrongful death case, including pain and suffering, loss of consortium, emotional distress, and decreased quality of life.

How Can a Personal Injury Attorney Help Me After Being Hurt on an E-Scooter

Hiring legal representation to navigate the legal system on your behalf after suffering an injury on an e-scooter may be a significant stress reducer and result in more substantial compensation. Here are several ways they help accident victims.

Advise You of and Protect Your Legal Rights

An attorney will advise you of your legal rights every step of the way. Furthermore, they will protect your legal rights when working with insurers and the court.

Conduct a Comprehensive Investigation

A lawyer will conduct a comprehensive investigation into your e-scooter accident case. Their investigation process includes the following:

• Gathering evidence like police reports, photos, and video surveillance of accident
• Interviewing eyewitnesses
• Working with accident reconstruction specialists to recreate your circumstances

All evidence gathered will be carefully processed, investigated, and analyzed to help your lawyer prove negligence.

Prepare and Organize Paperwork and Evidence

In addition to gathering, organizing, analyzing, and preserving evidence, an attorney will prepare, handle, process (meet deadlines), and manage all paperwork associated with your e-scooter accident claim.

Communicate and Negotiate With Insurance Companies

One of the biggest benefits of retaining a personal injury lawyer is their ability to negotiate effectively with insurance claim adjusters and opposing prosecutors. Insurers typically send lowball first offers to accident victims. Having legal representation forces them to take your case seriously.

An experienced personal injury attorney will inform you and advise you on any settlement offers you receive. You have the power to accept or reject whichever offer you deem satisfactory.

Case Litigation

Sometimes, personal injury claims that can not come to a settlement agreement between the insurer and victim go to trial. Having an experienced lawyer litigate your case should grant you peace of mind if it requires going to court.

No Out-of-Pocket Expense

Most personal injury attorneys work within contingency fee arrangements. No upfront fees or out-of-pocket expenses make legal representation available to anyone, regardless of financial situation.

Speak With A Personal Injury Attorney Today

Consult with a personal injury attorney immediately if you have suffered an injury on an e-scooter or if you've suffered the loss of a loved one due to someone else's negligence. A lawyer can pursue financial compensation for your losses and be a valuable resource at this challenging time.

Get A Free Consultation Today!