E-Scooter Injury Attorney in New York City

People in dense cities like New York need transportation options beyond driving a car. Unfortunately, the subway can’t get you everywhere you need to go. Increasingly, electric scooters are a popular option for people making short trips. All too often, though, e-scooter riders find themselves at the mercy of dangerous drivers and poorly maintained roads.

If you’ve been hurt in an accident, contact the New York e-scooter injury lawyers at Finz & Finz, P.C. A former New York State Supreme Court Justice founded our firm. Our team has decades of experience in personal injury accident cases. Our seasoned attorneys have collected over $1 billion in compensation for our clients.

Call (855) TOP-FIRM or contact us online for a free and confidential initial consultation with a knowledgeable New York City accident attorney.

New York City E-Scooter Laws

As popular as e-scooters have become in cities worldwide, e-scooters and e-bikes were banned in New York City until November 2020. That’s when the New York City Council passed a law allowing residents to operate personally owned throttle-based e-scooters up to 15 miles per hour in bike lanes and streets with 30 miles per hour or fewer speed limits. In addition, unlike seated mopeds, e-scooters do not require a driver’s license or registration with the NYS DMV, but scooter operators under 18 must wear a helmet.

The support for e-scooters continued. In April 2021, the NYC Department of Transportation announced that commercial dockless e-scooters would be introduced in a one-year pilot program in the Bronx to determine appropriate regulations for general citywide commercial e-scooter use.

The three companies allowed to offer e-scooter rides in the Bronx are Bird, Lime, and VeoRide. If the pilot program goes well, these three companies can expand their operations to neighborhoods throughout the city, with up to 2,000 scooters allowed per company.

There are a few other important provisions of New York’s e-scooter pilot program:

First, all three companies are barred from using “gig labor” (independent contractors who are not full-time employees) to charge and rebalance the e-scooters after a ride.
Second, e-scooter companies are prohibited from using terms of service, including binding arbitration or forbidding class-action lawsuits. This provision is essential because it protects e-scooter accident victims’ rights to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit when injured in an e-scooter accident.
Finally, in addition to the speed limit and helmet laws, other safety requirements are associated with the legalization of e-scooters in NYC. E-scooter riders must:
- Yield to pedestrians
- Not wear more than one earphone while riding.
- Stay off the sidewalk.
- Ride in the direction of traffic.
- Stop at all red lights.
- Stop at all stop signs.
- Use a white headlight and red tail light at night.

Compensation Available After an E-Scooter Accident

Whether you’re an e-scooter operator injured by someone else’s negligence or struck by someone on an e-scooter, state law allows accident victims to seek compensation for their losses.

This could include compensation for:

Injury-related medical bills

Future treatment and care needs

Lost wages and reduced earning capacity

Pain and suffering caused by your injuries

You should never try to handle an e-scooter injury claim on your own. A trusted New York e-scooter attorney with Finz & Finz, P.C. can help you obtain the maximum compensation you need to recover. This is our never-ending commitment to you.

What to Do After an Electric Scooter Accident in New York

If you’re involved in an e-scooter accident, here’s what you should do to protect your legal rights:

Stay at the scene and call 911 right away.

Get the name, contact information, and insurance information of anyone involved in the accident and eyewitnesses.

Document the accident scene as best you can. Use your phone to take pictures and videos of the damage to your scooter and any other vehicles involved, your injuries, the street design, lighting, and weather conditions.

See a doctor as soon as possible, and follow your treatment plan.

Keep all your medical records, wage statements, and other information that could help document your losses from the accident.

If you have a car or other liability insurance, gather the policy information. (Watch what you say to any insurance adjuster. Never sign any settlement offer until you’ve spoken to an attorney.)

Speak to an e-scooter accident lawyer from Finz & Finz, P.C., as soon as possible. We can launch an immediate investigation into your crash to identify all potential sources of compensation.

Common Causes of E-Scooter Crashes in New York City

Given that e-scooters in New York are allowed to travel as fast as 15 mph, a crash can cause significant injuries. Some of the most common causes of e-scooter accidents are:

Drivers must look out for e-scooters as they would for motorcyclists or bicyclists. Unfortunately, an impaired, tired, or distracted driver can easily overlook a nearby e-scooter and cause a devastating collision.

People opening their vehicle doors without looking for approaching e-scooters is a common cause of crashes. These types of collisions are known as “dooring” accidents.

Uneven road surfaces, potholes, roadway debris, and other dangerous conditions on city streets can all lead to e-scooter accidents. A scooter operator who loses control after striking a hazard may collide with another vehicle or a pedestrian, or they may be violently thrown from the scooter.

E-scooter operators don’t always exercise appropriate caution while riding. If an e-scooter operator is distracted, aggressive, ignoring safety regulations, or otherwise negligent, the rider could crash into a pedestrian or cause an auto accident.

There are many companies that manufacture and sell e-scooters to New York residents, and others such as Bird, Lime, and VeoRide that are authorized to rent electric scooters to the public. With so many companies delivering scooters to the market, there will be some that are defectively designed or improperly constructed and result in scooter crashes.

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