Question:
I suffered a fracture of my tibia and fibula when the handlebar stem of the Veo e-scooter I was riding snapped in half. Can I sue the scooter company for my injuries?
Answer:
A tib-fib fracture is a very serious injury. You no doubt underwent surgery. Recovery will be a long process. It’s not uncommon for the bones to fail to heal correctly, or for the hardware inserted in your leg to dislodge, requiring a second surgery. Unfortunately, you are one of the huge number of riders injured in an e-scooter accident.
A scooter handlebar stem should not break in half. Depending on the facts of your accident, and how you were using the scooter before and when it broke, you may have a valid products liability claim against the scooter company. In California, the “consumer expectations test” applies to determine whether a product is defective: did the scooter fail to operate as safely as an ordinary consumer would have expected it to perform when used in an intended or reasonably foreseeable way?
As long as you were riding the scooter as it was intended to be ridden (i.e., you weren’t jumping off curbs or otherwise abusing the scooter when it broke), then you may have a valid claim.
A hurdle you face is the user agreement that you signed when you downloaded the scooter app. Scooter user agreements contain liability waivers and assumption of the risk clauses. Basically, when you click that you accept the agreement, you are indicating you agree to give up the right to sue the scooter company for injuries.
Whether you were injured on a Veo, Bird, Lime, Lyft, Wheels or Spin scooter, they all have this in common: they will blame you for the accident and refuse to pay you. You may be looking at a life-long injury and enormous medical bills, as well as the inability to return to work. We strongly suggest that you speak with a personal injury attorney regarding your right to compensation for your injuries. At McGee, Lerer & Associates, we provide free consultations to accident victims.