Electric scooters have quickly become a regular part of city life. If you live in a tourist area such as Orlando, or anywhere near one of Florida’s thousands of beaches, you have likely encountered tourists, revelers, and others riding on electric scooters. You have probably stubbed your toe on a scooter carelessly discarded on a walkway. While these electric scooters provide a nice alternative to driving, biking, or motorcycling short distances, they do carry risks. The safety rules regarding electric scooters are often unclear and unknown to most people. People tend to ride them without helmets and occasionally under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and accidents are extremely common. If you have been injured while riding an electric scooter or by someone riding an electric scooter, speak with an experienced electric scooter injury attorney as soon as possible to see if you are entitled to compensation.
The Fort Myers scooter accident attorneys at The Law Offices of Marc L. Shapiro, P.A., have spent decades recovering monetary damages for our clients after traffic injuries of all shapes and sizes, involving every type of vehicle. We are ready to fight for the damages you are owed after your Florida electric scooter accident. If you have been injured in a scooter accident in Lee County or Orange County, call our Florida electric scooter injury legal team today to assess your case.
Risks of an Electric Scooter
While electric scooter rental companies like Lime and Bird provide a useful service for Florida communities, the scooters are not without their risks. The number of injury crashes involving electric scooters has skyrocketed in the last few years as their presence has become ubiquitous in metropolitan areas across the country, especially in tourist areas such as Orlando. Reports of fatalities in various cities have already started coming in. At least 29 people have died in electric scooter crashes to date.
Scooter injuries may be caused or made more dangerous by any of the following factors:
- Hazardous and uneven streets and sidewalks
- Buzzed, drunk, and drugged drivers
- Speeding and other aggressive driving maneuvers
- Failure to yield
- Distracted drivers
- Riders getting hit by car doors
- Offroading and riding on surfaces such as sand or grass
Florida Scooter Laws
Florida law requires riders under the age of 21 to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle or motor scooter in Florida. It is not clear, however, that the same law applies to electric scooters. “Motorized scooters” that do not have seats or saddles, which covers the typical electric scooters that companies like Lime offer, do not have the same helmet laws. The State of Florida does not actually recognize these devices as street-legal, meaning they cannot technically be driven on Florida streets or sidewalks. The state, however, allows individual cities and counties to set their own rules regarding such motorized scooters, provided the laws are generally in accordance with statewide traffic safety law.
Generally speaking, riders over 16 years old do not need to wear a helmet, but any electric scooter driver should have a driver’s license. Each city and county may have its own rules regarding the permitted usage of an electric scooter, such as whether they can be ridden on sidewalks. If you were hurt in an accident involving an electric scooter, call a knowledgeable Florida scooter accident attorney to find out whether you are entitled to compensation in light of the applicable safety rules and regulations, as well as the circumstances of the accident.
Call For Effective and Knowledgeable Legal Help After a Fort Myers Scooter Accident
If a scooter rider has hit you or a loved one, or if you have been injured while driving or riding a Lime, Bird, or other electric scooter, reach out to a dedicated Fort Myers scooter injury lawyer for advice and representation. We serve clients injured in scooter accidents in Fort Myers, Orlando, and throughout Florida. Call the compassionate and effective Florida scooter accident legal team at The Law Offices of Marc L. Shapiro, P.A., at 239-649-8050 today for a free consultation.
