As the age of technology dawns, it does not take much for new gadgets to become mainstream, and e-scooters are a perfect example of this. They are lightweight, convenient, smart, compact, and have a reasonable acceleration too – the perfect combination.
Just imagine the old-style push scooters without the pushing, that’s how e-scooters work.
However, as good as they are in making transport simpler, especially for commuting, e-scooters don’t come without their risks. They lack protective frames and features, thus you can expect some serious injuries if you take a fall while riding one.
E-scooter injuries can leave accident victims in deep physical pain and cause serious financial troubles for them. However, as with all other personal injury claims, e-scooter accidents also involve the element of negligence and since Vegas, Nevada has at-fault insurance laws, you can sue the responsible parties for your losses.
Read on to explore the topic further and understand how a lawyer can help.
E-Scooters: What Are They & How Did They Become Mainstream?
As we mentioned earlier, electric scooters are much like regular scooters minus the kicks and pushes and they are much faster too. Some can even do 50 miles per hour with minimal effort on part of the scooter operator. The biggest reason why these scooters have taken the market by storm is that they are a convenient mode of transportation.
For instance, many people don’t fancy waiting for public transport and then sharing a ride with several other people to commute. For some, it is too big of a stretch – this is where electric scooters come into the picture, they are compact, light, easy to handle, and let you ride all by yourself, unbothered by other people.
Since these scooters are electrically powered, not much effort is needed save for the vigilance required of every electric scooter rider. Add up all of this to the carbon-neutral nature of these scooters and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a rising technological trend.
This is exactly what e-scooters have become.
The riding requirements are minimal and it’s not that hard to learn too, so one can understand why they have become so mainstream.
However, e-scooters are far from being perfectly safe. Yes, in theory, if people were to drive more responsibly, the odds of getting injured would be minimum, but we know that this is not the case, practically. Parallel to the steadily growing numbers of e-scooter users, the number of accidents being reported has also seen a spike.
This means that the safety concerns regarding e-scooters are well-founded.
Electric Scooter Accidents – What You Need To Know
Our words about the inflated risk of injury for e-scooter riders (as compared to drivers of motor vehicles) did not come from nowhere. Documented evidence reinforces this claim beyond doubt. According to one statistical report, in a short span of merely four years, between 2014 and 2018, the number of injuries caused by e-scooters grew by a whopping 222 percent!
The exact number exceeded 39,000 injuries, but this is merely the tip of the iceberg.
A thorough study conducted by CDC for e-scooter injury risk concluded that for every 100,000 trips take on these scooters, on average 20 riders get injured. The study further explored the odds of getting injured on e-scooters and made some startling revelations:
- Almost half (48 percent to be exact) of the injured individuals were young people, aged between 18 and 29 years.
- A third of the injured people were riding the e-scooters for the first time, showing that beginners had a higher risk of sustaining an injury.
- Around 38 percent of the injured people, when asked if they would ride an e-scooter again in the future, responded positively.
- Almost half of the injured people sustained a serious injury.
- These injuries were most likely to happen within the 12-hour time frame between 6 PM and 6 AM – typical business hours, which further complicates the risk.
The study was conducted on a large sample group, however, the full extent of the risk remains to be unveiled. Since e-scooters are a new thing, it will be some time before we get our hands on more detailed data about how the risk of injury is higher for the scooter operators.
But for now, we can settle the question based on the observations noted above and the ground realities.
E-scooters are fast, this means that the possibility of a serious crash is there. They have no cushioning surfaces such as airbags to soften a blow and they lack any protective framework as well. An injury can be pretty serious and you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure this much.
Moreover, since many riders prefer not to wear a helmet while riding the scooter because it is not legally necessary to do so, the odds of getting seriously injured are further boosted. A combination of negligence and some inherent design limitations are to blame here.
Common Electric Scooter Accident Injuries
Injuries incurred upon e-scooter accident victims can be both minor and serious. Minor bruises, lacerations, muscle injury, dislocations, fractures, road rash, and superficial injuries are quite common and not that severe.
However, in some cases, the damages may be a bit too much for most people, some examples of severe injuries are as follows:
- Head injuries/traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injuries
- Concussions
- Torn ligaments
- Neck injuries
- Wrist injuries
- Elbow and knee injuries
- Limb injuries
- Shoulder and waist injuries
- Broken bones or serious fractures
- Fractured ribs
- Internal organ injury
And the list goes on…
The point is that since these scooters lack adequate protective mechanisms, the injuries incurred upon victims can be severe and leave them suffering. Not to mention the financial problems such as medical costs, lost wages, and extra expenses associated with such pain.
If you or a loved one ever gets involved in an electric motor scooter accident, then be sure to seek medical care as soon as possible, don’t delay it for more than 72 hours. Ideally, you should seek a scooter accident injury diagnosis and treatment from an emergency room physician.
Liability For Electric Scooter Accidents
Since Nevada has an at-fault state personal injury attorney, this means that the person responsible for causing an accident will have to financially compensate the accident victim. To establish negligence though, you need to understand where did the liable party fail to act responsibly.
This factor varies from case to case because there are several reasons why scooter accidents happen.
If you had a crash because a negligent driver failed to maintain a safe distance, was distracted, engaged in drunk driving, speeding, ignoring traffic light signals, violating traffic laws, and so on, you can easily establish negligence and get them to accept their liability.
However, just as other drivers owe a duty of care to e-scooter riders, it applies the other way around too. These scooters are not meant for the city streets and can only be safely operated at moderate speeds (use sidewalks and bike lanes), if you act recklessly, then the liability will be on your shoulders.
But there is another possibility as well.
Product defects or inadequate maintenance can be the issue sometimes. In such cases, the relevant party (i.e. e-scooter companies) will be liable for the damages, you just need to know how exactly the accident happened and who was it that acted neglectfully.
Once liability is established, you can demand compensation for your losses but be sure to get an experienced lawyer on board as soon as possible if you want to maximize your winnings.
Seeking Compensation For E-Scooter Injuries
According to the state law for personal injury cases in Nevada, an injured party can seek compensation for all economic and non-economic damages from the at-fault insurance company. For this, you’ll have to document any evidence related to your case, keep a record of your losses, have a copy of the accident report, and then consult your case with a lawyer.
Here’s what you can demand a settlement for:
- Short term medical expenses
- Long term medical bills, i.e. physical therapy, psychiatric sessions, and so on
- Lost wages
- Extra expenses
- Physical pain
- Emotional distress
- Compromised quality of life
- Loss of joy of life
- Loss of companionship (in case of wrongful death)
Call Us Today For Initial Consultation & Legal Assistance
You can’t put off doing things after an e-scooter accident. Time is of the essence for every personal injury case because delays complicate matters and may bring doubt to your claims. Thus seeking legal assistance should be a top-most priority for you if you plan on winning fair compensation.
However, many people delay this matter fearing that they might not be able to afford the legal services of a competent lawyer after being financially drained by the accident. Worry no more, because our personal injury lawyers at McDonald Worley injury law firm won’t ask for any upfront fees.
The initial consultation is also completely free, so don’t hold back from calling McDonald Worley today!