Over the past year, there’s been a scooter innovation invasion across the United States. These dock-less, electric scooters are made to solve our short distance commuter problems.

It’s been referred to as “Scootergeddon”, and shows no signs of slowing down. The idea that began in San Francisco has now been rolled out to almost 100 cities around the country. What started as a fun way of reducing carbon emissions, scooter accidents now could be the cause of upwards of 1000 injuries per month.

Why Scooters?

It’s a cheap and cheerful way of getting around cities, but is it worth the risk? Los Angeles has already seen its first class action lawsuit against scooter rental companies. Therefore, it’s only a matter of time until Colorado will also see an uprising in scooter-related personal injury lawsuits.

Scooter accident statistics are on the up in Denver. Swedish Medical Center estimates that they’re seeing at least 20 injuries per week that are a result of e-scooter accidents. But what happens if you have a scooter accident? Is there anything you can do about it?

Medical bills don’t pay themselves, and scooter companies certainly don’t either.

What Are Some of the Causes of Scooter Accidents?

The biggest cause of scooter accidents is their riders not wearing helmets. This is a huge problem in the case of rental scooters as helmets aren’t provided. Furthermore, nobody is walking around Denver on their way to work with a helmet, just in case.

The fact that these scooters cost $1 to unlock and then 15 cents-per-minute to ride shows that they were designed for convenience. After all, there doesn’t appear to be any whimsy about strapping on a helmet to save yourself from any sort of scooter injury.

At the moment, Denver classes e-scooters as “toy vehicles”, meaning they can’t be ridden on the road. Although this can help to avoid traffic-related incidents, there are also plenty of accidents that can occur on the sidewalk.

Curbs, signs, uneven pavement, pedestrians, and automobiles can all cause accidents, and while the majority of those injured report malfunctioning scooters as the cause, riders still may be to blame. For example, incidents wherein riders have been intoxicated or using their phones have already been reported.

What to do if You’ve Been Injured on a Scooter

Up to 40% of e-scooter injuries are head and neck related. That said, these “toy vehicles” have also caused deaths. Other injuries such as abrasions, fractures, and breaks also happen on the regular.

Because some incidents happen as a result of riders not knowing where to ride or faulty equipment, the accident might not be your fault. If it isn’t, you also might not know what to do if you’re unfortunate enough to get into an accident – whether it lands you in the hospital or not.

Here’s what you should do:

• Make sure nobody else was injured.
• If you’re not seriously injured and another person was involved, we recommend calling the police to file an incident report. Collect information such as license plate numbers, identification of contacts and insurance information.
• On the other hand, if no other people were involved, jot down some notes about what you think might have caused the accident. Faulty vehicle? Denver sidewalks? Surroundings? Take pictures.
• Get yourself to the hospital. Even if you don’t think you’ve been seriously injured, having medical proof on the back of an accident will come in handy in the claims process.
• Seek legal advice: Rental scooters are so new that there aren’t even solid statistics on accident rates yet. Therefore, you might have difficulty finding out what to do next. A personal injury lawyer will be able to help you figure out the best plan of action.

Scootergeddon’s forecast is set to increase. However, let’s make sure that scooter injuries in Denver don’t follow suit. If  you have been injured in a scooter accident, don’t wait contact Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden Law Firm to help you get the legal support you need.