St. Louis Electric Rental Scooter Accident Attorney

Tourists and locals alike enjoy exploring our city. Some choose to walk or bike, but, more recently, electric rental scooter services have popped up around the city so you can get around in a more exciting and cost-effective way. While these scooters can be fun, they can also be more dangerous than riders realize. If people riding the scooters are not vigilant, don’t follow the rules, or ride while intoxicated, then they could get into an accident.

Pedestrians can be hit by these scooters, or cars could strike them if they are not where they’re supposed to be. When that happens, the riders and anyone else involved can suffer from serious injuries. A St. Louis electric rental scooter accident lawyer from Thomas Law Offices can help you with your accident claim to ensure that the party at fault for your accident is held responsible.

Electric Scooter Injuries Happening in St. Louis

Electric rental scooter companies like Bird and Lime have been in St. Louis since 2018 when scooters became a trend in cities around the country. While they seem like a practical and fun way to tour the city, they can also be dangerous when not used correctly or ridden in the proper areas. Riders can suffer from serious injuries from falling off of the scooter or from colliding with objects.

In early 2019, St. Louis hospitals expressed their concerns with the number of patients they were treating for injuries from electric scooter accidents. Emergency room doctors at Barnes-Jewish hospital said they were seeing about 11 patients a week for electric scooter-related injuries. Our city isn’t an outlier when it comes to people getting injured on motorized scooters.

Some of the injuries that occur from scooter accidents include:

• Scrapes
• Bruises
• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injuries

Other than injuries that stem from riding these scooters, many people just walking on the sidewalk can be injured by them as well. When riders don’t know the rules and end up riding on the sidewalk, they can run into pedestrians and hurt them. Also, when the scooters aren’t in use, they are commonly strewn along the sidewalk. The scooters are usually on their sides and can cause people to trip and fall over them, potentially causing injury.

If you’ve suffered an injury at the hands of an electric rental scooter, you could use a lawyer on your side. You shouldn’t have to pay for your medical costs or other damages when you weren’t the one who caused them. Our St. Louis electric rental scooter accident attorney will look into what caused your injuries and hold the responsible party accountable for their actions.

Regulations for Electric Rental Scooters

At first, Bird scooters came to the city of St. Louis and were quickly pulled off the streets because the company had not filed for the proper permit. Later, they were approved and came back to the city. A week before Bird was allowed back, Lime made its debut in the city. Prior to these companies bringing their rental scooters onto the streets, they had to meet all of the requirements set by the city.

Whereas other cities put statutes in place after the scooter rental companies popped up, St. Louis has a city ordinance from 2001 that sets limitations and rules for motorized scooters. The scooters caused a lot of issues on sidewalks, streets, and bike lanes because pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists weren’t used to sharing with e-scooters. Turns out, the e-scooters aren’t allowed to be ridden just anywhere in St. Louis. When riding a motorized scooter, Ordinance 65138 requires people in St. Louis to:

• Wear a helmet
• Only ride in the streets or alleys and as far to the right as possible
• Never ride on the sidewalk except to park

If scooter riders are found breaking any of these regulations, they could face a fine of up to $500, spend up to 90 days in jail, or both. They could also put themselves at risk for causing or being involved in an accident that causes injury or other damages. Specifically, not wearing a helmet could greatly increase your risk of head injury when you get into a collision on an e-scooter.

If you have been injured in an electric rental scooter accident in St. Louis, a personal injury lawyer from Thomas Law Offices could help you file a claim to help you financially recover from your injuries and hold the responsible party accountable.

Thomas Law Offices Can Help You With Your Case

When you get into an accident with an e-scooter, you could suffer injuries that require a visit to the hospital. If the injury is serious enough, you could even require a hospital stay, physical therapy, or other treatments that raise the costs of your medical bills. The injuries could also lead to other costs, or even cause you to miss work and lose wages. You need to be able to support yourself and your family financially while working on healing from your accident, and that’s where we come in.

Our e-scooter accident lawyer will fight for you and handle the legal side of things while you focus on recovery. At Thomas Law Offices, we know that recovering financially is a necessity after an injury you didn’t cause. Come to our office in St. Louis so that we can look into your electric rental scooter accident and decide what your legal options are. You can also reach out to us so that we can discuss your potential claim.