Electric Scooter, Bicycle, Hoverboard, Skateboard, or Other Micromobility Accidents
Cars, motorcycles, and other motor vehicles aren’t the only way people are getting around in Los Angeles; they are using alternative forms of transportation like:
- Scooters (and electric scooters)
- Bicycles (and electric bicycles)
- Hoverboards; and
- Skateboards.
These types of transportation, also known as micromobility devices, are often for recreational purposes, and riding these devices is nowadays a common past time in California. But more and more, they are becoming a mainstay for Los Angeles residents and visitors. In fact, the use of micromobility devices is steadily increasing in Los Angeles. As you know, our streets are teeming with vehicles. It doesn’t have to be rush hour for it to feel like rush hour in Los Angeles––our streets are always full of semi-trucks, commercial trucks, trucks, and passenger vehicles. So, having an alternative form of transportation is ideal to get to work, school, the grocery store, and home, among other places, especially since micromobility offers flexibility and accessibility.
But with the increase in bicycles, skateboards, hoverboards, and scooters on our streets and sidewalks, an increase in accidents also follows. This is true whether it’s a motorist or a bicyclist crashing into a moped at an intersection.
If you have been in an accident in the Los Angeles metro area involving a bicycle, skateboard, hoverboard, or scooter you’ll likely need a personal injury attorney. As already stated, these types of accidents typically end with serious bodily injuries due simply to the very nature of the accident. Since people using these types of transportation have limited protection minus headgear and other wearable pieces of protection, they may end up with multiple injuries starting from soft tissue injuries to multiple bone fractures, traumatic brain injuries, and even fatalities. In one word, it’s serious. If you or your loved one has been hurt, review the below summary on these types of accidents and then contact us. We’ll put you in touch with a personal injury or wrongful death attorney who has the experience, insight, and compassion you need.
What Do the Statistics Say about Bicycle, Skateboard, Hoverboard, and Scooter Accidents in California?
Bicycle, skateboard, hoverboard, and electric scooter accidents are defined as crashes where one or more victims were using one of the latter forms of transportation. The available statistics out on collisions involving bicycles, skateboards, hoverboards, and scooters paint a picture of how popular these things are but also how dangerous they can be.
Bicycle
In California, you may use a regular bicycle equipped without a motor or you could own and use an electric bicycle (e-bikes). There are three different classes of e-bikes: Class I (electrically assisted pedelec that can offer assistance up to 20 mph), Class II (electrically assisted bicycle controlled by a throttle that can offer assistance up to 20 mph), and Class III (electrically assisted pedelec that has a speedometer and can offer motor power up to 28 mph). Many residents and visitors use e-bikes via bike-shares, like Breeze Bike Share and Metro Bike Share. Class 3 e-bikers must be at least 16 years old to ride and must wear a helmet. Plus, Class 3 e-bikers are prohibited from multi-use bike paths, trails, or lanes. Class 3 bicyclists must wear helmets while only 17-year-olds or younger who ride bicycles or e-bikes must wear a helmet.
Los Angeles is home to the highest rate of bicycle collisions in the state. Data from 2015 to 2019 show that there were 18,634 bicycling accidents in Los Angeles County while the next highest is Orange County with 4,554 accidents––that’s over four times more bicycling accidents in Los Angeles than in Orange County. As for fatalities from these types of accidents, there were 191 fatalities during the same time period, and second to that is Orange County again with 67 fatalities. So, Los Angeles County’s fatality rate due to bicycling collisions is around 65% more than Orange County. No other county comes close to these statistics but San Diego County with 4,089 bicycling accidents and Sacramento County with 63 fatalities.
There are no statistics specific to e-bikes except those on a nation-wide basis. According to data, the annual injury rate per 1,000 e-bike riders is 1.4 injuries.
Skateboard
There are traditional skateboards that have no motor and then there are the newer skateboards with motors, and both are popular in California. Skateboards are allowed on multi-use paths and sidewalks but motorized skateboards are not permitted on trails, roads, or sidewalks, according to Los Angeles County Code § 15.54.010. Skateboarders must also wear helmets.
Skateboards are accessible and convenient forms of transportation (just as much as they are for recreational purposes). California Household Travel Survey claims that––out of all forms of transportation in California––skateboards make up 0.14% of the transportation pie. That may sound small enough but it is equivalent to 48 million miles traveled per year. Further, according to research conducted at the University of California at Davis, there are more skateboarders than bicyclists.
According to the National Safety Council (NSC) nation-wide, in 2019, there were 148,921 injured, and most of them were between the ages of 14 to 65. In California, according to the Department of Transportation, there’s an average of 10 fatalities each year due to skateboards and e-scooters combined, while there are thousands of deaths related to motor vehicle accidents, hundreds of pedestrian deaths, and just over one hundred bicycle fatalities each year.
Hoverboard
Hoverboards are self-balancing motorized forms of transportation. They cannot be used on roads, bicycle paths, sidewalks, or trails if their speeds exceed 15 mph. If used on a public road, hoverboards cannot exceed 35 mph. To ride on the streets, you must be 16 years old or older, and helmets are required. There are more requirements if you intend to use a hoverboard at night.
Hoverboard accidents are rare but they occur. Not only do accidents occur with pedestrians, vehicles, bicycles, and the like, but the hoverboard itself has caused the injury. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has identified at least 250 burn injuries throughout the United States due to hoverboard fires and smoke inhalation.
Electric Scooter
Los Angeles, according to one popular e-scooter company, is the first city in the United States to break 3 million electric scooter rides, and this was in early 2019. E-scooter use has only increased in popularity. E-scooters are scooters you stand on and that have a motor, two wheels, and a floorboard. In California, you can only drive them on bicycle paths, trails, or bikeways and not on the sidewalk. E-scooters can be purchased for use, but also, there are e-scooter for rent through companies like Bird, Lime, Uber, and Lyft. Regardless if you own or rent an e-scooter, in Los Angeles, you are not permitted to exceed 15 mph. Further, e-scooters have been prohibited in communities outside of the City of Los Angeles, like Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.
A study published in January 2020 in JAMA Surgery shows that e-scooter accidents have increased by 222 percent between 2014 and 2018 in the United States. More striking facts from this study include:
- 39,000 injuries over the span of four years
- Hospital admissions increased by 365%
- Hospital admissions totaled approximately 3,300
- Nearly a third of the 3,300 hospital patients suffered head trauma (which is notably twice the number of bicycling accidents and hospital ER visits)
- Approximately a third of e-scooter accident injuries were sustained by women
- The age group suffering the highest number of injuries were those between the ages of 18 and 34.
Those statistics are alarming and address a nation-wide problem. In California alone, the statistics are a bit less dire. As mentioned under skateboards, the combination of skateboards/scooters in accidents is well below the number of victims in auto accidents and bicycling accidents. As mentioned above, there are on average a total of 10 fatalities each year due to skateboards or e-scooters––though the number of injuries is much higher.
Other Micromobility Devices
Other micromobility devices include devices like e-unicycles and e-tricycles. There is little to no injury data on the devices because the concept of micromobility is so new. That said, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has recognized all micromobility devices as a legitimate form of transportation and acknowledges their convenience. For example, in a newly released report (Understanding and Tackling Micromobility: Transportation’s New Disruptor), GHSA compares the average car speed in midtown Manhatten in 2017 to the average e-scooter speed, and the results are shocking: 4.7 mph for a passenger vehicle going through town compared to 15 mph for an e-scooter––that’s more than three times as fast as a car.
GHSA also recognizes the dangers that micromobility users face given that the popularity of them has exploded while regulations and infrastructure haven’t had the time yet to catch up, thus, causing or making conditions likely for an increase in micromobility accidents. As a result, new codes to track and categorize injures nation-wide from micromobility accidents were implemented in October 2020.
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What Does the Law Say about Bicycle, Skateboard, Hoverboard, and Scooter Accidents in California?
If you have been injured in California, and the accident involved a bicycle, skateboard, hoverboard, or scooter, you are entitled to compensation. This is true just as if you would be entitled to compensation in any other type of accident where another person owed you a duty of care, breached that duty, and because of the breach, caused your injury. Typically, claims or lawsuits involving micromobility devices are based on negligence or product liability.
Negligence Claims
Claims based on negligence mean someone or some entity was negligent, grossly negligent, or reckless and caused the accident that directly and proximately caused your injuries. These types of claims are often brought against insurance companies, like auto insurance, professional liability insurance, or homeowner’s insurance. Unfortunately, most of these types of insurance do not cover micromobility users with the exception of mopeds––moped owners are required to carry auto insurance if you own and/or operate a moped in California.
To better understand the problem of insurance and micromobility, consider that California drivers (including moped riders) according to California Code § 11580.1b, must have auto insurance, the minimums of which are:
- $15,000 for injury/death to one person
- $30,000 for injury/death to more than one person
- $5,000 for damage to property.
Insurance is not required for most micromobility users listed above. If you use a micromobility device and cause the accident, you can get sued. But therein lies another problem, you may not have assets and so the victim of the accident may not receive much in the way of compensation unless he or she has uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance.
If you didn’t cause the accident and the other party was in an automobile subject to California auto insurance laws, then you should be able to recover compensation. The caveat here is this: you can only receive compensation up to the at-fault party’s insurance limits, meaning if the at-fault party only has the minimum auto coverage, then you can only seek up to $15,000. In micromobility accidents, however, $15,000 may be a needle in a haystack. Injuries are often severe and require extensive medical attention.
Product Liability Claims
Many micromobility devices have come under scrutiny due to poor design, poor manufacturing, or without proper instructions or warnings. Under the theory of product liability, designers, manufacturers, sellers, and/or other companies along the supply chain can be held strictly liable. For example, LIME recalled 2,000 scooters in 2018 because the devices caught on fire. LIME blamed it on a manufacturing defect. But Lime has experienced other design and manufacturing problems, too. In fact, many micromobility companies have had to recall their devices due to defects. The following are examples of recent recalls as listed by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission:
- Glion Electric Scooters by Probity Cell due to fall hazard
- Dynacraft Monster High City Motor Scooters due to fall hazard
- Dynacraft Hello Kitty Motor Scooters due to fall hazard
- Self-balancing Scooters/Hoverboards by 10 Firms due to fire hazard
- Smart Balance Wheel Self-Balancing scooters/hoverboards by Salvage World due to explosion and fire hazards
- Sonic Smart Wheels Self-Balancing scooters/hoverboards by Dollar Mania due to explosion and fire hazards
- Haibike Electric Bicycles due to fall hazard
- Pedego Electric Bikes due to fall hazard
- Boosted Electric Skateboards due to fire hazard
- Yvolve Sports Electric Skateboards due to fall hazard (new instructions and warning labels provided)
Defective micromobility products can and have caused injury due to defects, and injured parties are entitled to file a claim in California.
What are the Most Common Types of Micromobility Accidents in Los Angeles?
Accidents occur any number of ways, but when it involves a bicycle, skateboard, hoverboard, or scooter the following are the most common ways accidents occur.
1. Riding against traffic––when you ride a micromobility device against traffic, you significantly raise the risk of injury or fatality.
2. Exiting a private driveway––these collisions occur when a rider leaves a private drive, alley, side street, or a sidewalk and a motorist fails to see the rider coming.
3. Stopping due to traffic stop signs or traffic lights––a rider may attempt to cross the intersection and a motorist fails to see the rider in time.
4. Overtaking the rider––the rider is struck from behind by a motorist. These types of accidents are more prevalent at night.
5. Doored––a motorist or passenger may not be paying attention to what’s happening not he outside of the car when she or he tries to exit. Unfortunately, dooring can be serious and happen often.
6. Turning––whether it’s to turn right or left, a rider may be in a driver’s blind spot when the driver attempts to turn and then swipes the rider from the side.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Bicycling, Skateboard, Hoverboard, and Scooter Accidents in Los Angeles?
Liable parties in bicycling, skateboard, hoverboard, scooter, and other electric micromobility accidents can include any of the following:
- A micromobility user (e.g., bicycles, skateboards, e-scooters, hoverboards, and mopeds)
- An automobile driver (e.g., passenger vehicles, trucks, vans, buses)
- Rideshare companies
- Manufacturers
- Designers
- Merchants
- Maintenance company.
Fault and liability will come down to the facts. Remember, too, that California follows the pure comparative negligence doctrine. If you didn’t follow the rules of the road, then you––even if the victim––may have contributed to the accident. If so, then compensation will be reduced according to your fault percentage.
Typically, if the case isn’t settled and it goes to trial, fault percentages will be determined by a jury. You always want to keep this in mind because insurance companies will try to blame the accident in part or in full on you. The only exception is when the micromobility device was defective, in which case the relevant party is strictly liable.
Resourceful Bicycling, Skateboard, Hoverboard, and Scooter Personal Injury Attorney in Los Angeles
Micromobility devices are on the rise, and so are accidents associated with them. Our legal system and infrastructure are not yet up-to-date. If you have been in an accident involving a micromobility device, it is in your best interest to contact us as soon as possible. These types of cases can be and likely will be complex. Speaking to a personal injury attorney knowledgeable and experienced in these types of personal injury cases will help you understand what your options are. We already have a network of experienced micromobility personal injury attorneys in the greater Los Angeles metro area. Contact us today to ask questions or get started on your personal injury case.
