The E-Scooter Accident That Left You With Serious Injuries: Two Parties That May Owe You

E-scooters are everywhere in Dallas-Fort Worth now. Ride-share scooters from companies like Bird and Lime line the sidewalks downtown, along Uptown, Deep Ellum, residential neighborhoods and throughout the city’s most walkable neighborhoods. For a lot of people, they’re a convenient way to get around. But when something goes wrong on one of these scooters, whether a car hits you, the scooter malfunctions, or a combination of both, the injuries can be serious and the question of who is responsible can be more complicated than it looks.

What a lot of injured riders don’t realize is that there may be more than one party responsible for what happened. In many e-scooter accidents, two separate parties may owe you compensation, and identifying both is an important part of making sure you’re not left covering the cost of someone else’s negligence on your own. A Dallas, TX personal injury lawyer can investigate all potentially responsible parties after an e-scooter accident, determine whether a driver, scooter company, or another party may be liable, and help injured riders pursue the full compensation available for their injuries and losses. 

Party One: The Driver or Person Who Caused the Crash

If a car, truck, or another vehicle hit you while you were on an e-scooter, that driver’s liability insurance applies the same way it would in any other crash. Texas law requires drivers to carry minimum liability coverage, and when a driver’s negligence causes an accident, their policy is the starting point for your claim.

What makes scooter accidents different from car-on-car crashes is that the person on the scooter almost always comes out worse. There’s no steel frame around you, no airbags, and no seatbelt. Injuries that might be minor in a vehicle-to-vehicle collision are major in an e-scooter collision.  We see broken wrists, a head injuries, road rash across a significant portion of the body, leaving many e-scooter victims unable to work… That physical reality is part of what shapes the value of an e-scooter injury claim.

A personal injury attorney can help evaluate the driver’s available coverage and determine whether additional sources of compensation may apply, including your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage if the at-fault driver’s policy isn’t sufficient.

Party Two: The Scooter Company

This is the piece most injured riders overlook, and it’s worth examining carefully.

E-scooter companies like Bird and Lime are responsible for the condition and maintenance of their vehicles. When a scooter has a mechanical defect, a brake failure, a software malfunction, or a structural problem that contributed to the crash, the company that owns and operates that scooter may share responsibility for what happened to you.

These companies also have obligations around how and where their scooters are deployed. If a scooter was placed in a location that created a foreseeable hazard, or if the company’s app or GPS system directed you into an unsafe situation, those facts become part of the liability analysis.

Pursuing a claim against a scooter company is different from a standard car accident claim. These are large, well-funded companies with legal teams experienced in defending exactly these kinds of cases. They move quickly after serious accidents involving their scooters, and the documentation and maintenance records for the specific scooter involved in your crash need to be requested and preserved as soon as possible.

What Your Injuries Are Actually Worth

E-scooter accidents that produce serious injuries, nerve damage, fractures, traumatic brain injuries, and significant soft tissue injuries, carry real value in a personal injury claim. That includes medical expenses, future treatment, lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering. When the injuries are permanent or require ongoing care, those future costs become a significant part of what a claim needs to account for.

A personal injury attorney can help you understand which parties are responsible, what evidence needs to be preserved, and what the full scope of your damages actually looks like.

Kelso Law works with accident victims throughout Dallas, including those hurt in e-scooter crashes, to identify every responsible party and pursue full compensation. If you were seriously hurt in a scooter accident in the Dallas area, reach out to a Dallas personal injury lawyer. Two parties may owe you money, and we can help you figure out who.