St. Louis Electric Scooter Accident Lawyer

Request Free Consultation

Electric scooters are growing in popularity as a convenient means of local transportation in St. Louis and elsewhere. Now, with short-term e-scooter rentals available at the touch of an app, e-scooter riders are everywhere, zipping along with traffic and in bicycle lanes. While most users find them easy to operate and a fun way to navigate the city, the surge in ridership has also led to a rise in collisions—making it critical for injured riders to connect with a St. Louis e-scooter accident lawyer to address potential legal and safety concerns.

st. louis e-scooter accident lawyer

Table of Contents

Why Choose Miller & Hine as Your Electric Scooter Accident Lawyers In St. Louis?

Although electric scooter accidents are relatively new in tort law, the experienced St. Louis personal attorneys at Miller & Hine have amassed experience navigating this type of injury claim. Our deep familiarity with the traffic laws in St. Louis and an in-depth understanding of Missouri’s civil courts and insurance system give us unique advantages in your claim. With Miller & Hine, you can expect the following:

We are a team of trial-ready attorneys with a passion for obtaining the compensation our clients deserve when they suffer preventable injuries caused by someone else’s careless or reckless actions.

E-Scooter Injuries In St. Louis

An electric scooter is a two-wheeled motorized platform capable of speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. The rider stands upright on the low, narrow platform while operating the scooter, navigating with a handlebar system for steering, accelerating, and braking. In St. Louis, electric scooters are allowed to operate on the streets, bike lanes, and bicycle trails. They are not allowed on public sidewalks. Electric scooter users must follow traffic laws similar to bicycle riders, but unfortunately, they cannot control the actions of drivers in full-sized vehicles who do not always take proper care or remain vigilant to the presence of e-scooter riders, resulting in accidents and injuries. In a study of 3,331 emergency room visits over a 34-month period, electric scooters in cities like St. Louis, with e-scooter availability through rental services, have experienced increased injuries from e-scooter accidents, including the following types of accidents:

In some cases, trip-and-fall accidents occur to pedestrians due to improperly parked or abandoned rented e-scooters.

What Is the Process of an E-Scooter Injury Claim In Missouri?

Once you’ve hired an experienced personal injury lawyer for your electric scooter accident claim, your attorney will investigate all aspects of the accident and formulate a plan to move forward. Typically, this is through a direct claim against the at-fault party’s appropriate insurance policy, only becoming a lawsuit in court if the insurance company fails to offer an acceptable settlement. The following process is what you can usually expect in an injury claim:

Over 90% of personal injury claims are resolved with a settlement and don’t require a courtroom; however, the experienced trial attorneys at Miller & Hine prepare every injury claim as though for court to ensure that the case is ready to litigate in front of a jury if required. Court litigation is a lengthier process, but it often brings large monetary awards because juries tend to sympathize with injury victims.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Electric Scooter Accidents in St. Louis?

All states limit the amount of time that may pass between an accident and litigating the matter in court. This ensures that evidence remains available and eyewitness testimony is still reliable if a case goes to court. It also protects defendants from living under the endless threat of a lawsuit. While many states set the time limit at two years, Missouri’s generous statute of limitations for personal injury claims is five years from the date of the accident. If a St. Louis electric scooter accident case requires a trial in court, the injury victim must file the petition within the five-year statute of limitations.

Proving Liability in an Electric Scooter Accident Claim In St. Louis

Drivers owe a legal duty of care to others on the road, including electric scooter riders, as well as bicyclists and pedestrians. This legal duty requires the driver to follow traffic laws, avoid distractions, and pay vigilant attention to their surroundings to avoid causing harm to others—especially vulnerable road users like e-scooter riders who lack the protection of seatbelts and surrounding metal. Recovering compensation for electric scooter accident injuries requires the injury victim to prove the at-fault party’s liability by showing evidence supporting the following legal elements of liability:

A successful claim with substantial evidence of liability recovers compensation for common damages caused by serious injuries.

Who Is Liable for Damages In St. Louis Electric Scooter Accidents?

After a serious accident such as an e-scooter accident with injuries in St. Louis, Missouri’s fault-based insurance laws require the injury victim to prove the at-fault party’s liability through a preponderance of the evidence. Common liable parties in e-scooter accidents include the following, depending on the results of the investigation into the accident:

If injuries to pedestrians occur due to a careless or reckless electric scooter operator, the injured pedestrian can recover compensation through a pedestrian accident claim against the operator or rental agency.

What Damages Can I Recover In an Electric Scooter Accident Claim?

Serious injuries require painful, expensive medical procedures and sometimes surgeries, medications, physical therapy, and follow-up care. Some electric scooter accident injuries in St. Louis are catastrophic, leaving the injury victim with life-altering adverse effects like disability or impairment. A successful claim against an at-fault party’s insurance or through a lawsuit brings compensation for damages such as the following:

If a loved one died in a St. Louis electric scooter accident, a close family member could recover compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit against the liable party.

What to Do After an Electric Scooter Accident In St. Louis

If an electric scooter accident in St. Louis or elsewhere causes a grave, incapacitating injury, the injury victim may be helpless to do anything other than wait for emergency services; however, sometimes injury victims or an uninjured companion can take purposeful action to protect their physical and financial futures right at the accident scene. A cell phone becomes a critical tool at the scene of an accident to do the following:

Eyewitnesses are often the key to a successful compensation claim if an accident isn’t captured on traffic camera video or nearby surveillance footage. Unfortunately, eyewitnesses often leave the scene without leaving contact information.

Injuries In Electric Scooter Accidents In St. Louis

Most e-scooter users travel between 15 and 20 miles per hour in urban areas like St. Louis. When an unprotected scooter rider has a collision with an obstacle, they often suffer serious injuries. In a scooter accident involving an average 4,000-pound vehicle, the injuries may be severe, catastrophic, or deadly. Common injuries in St. Louis electric scooter accidents include the following:

Injuries in electric scooter accidents in St. Louis range from mild injuries with a single emergency room bill and a few days of lost wages to catastrophic injuries leaving the injury victim with disability and an uncertain future. When someone else’s negligent actions caused the injury, the injury victim does not have to be left responsible for the economic damages while also dealing with the physical impacts of the injury.

Go to the Hospital After a Scooter Accident In St. Louis

It’s crucial to go directly to the hospital from the accident scene, either in an ambulance or by arranging transportation, depending on the severity of the injuries. At the hospital, ask for a complete medical evaluation to diagnose any injuries with delayed symptom presentation, as well as your obvious emergency injuries. Then, ask for a detailed medical report with a list of your injuries, the doctor’s recommendations for treatment, and your prognosis for recovery. Finally, hire an experienced electric scooter accident lawyer and then direct all communication with the at-fault party’s insurance company to your lawyer.

What If I Was Partly at Fault for My Electric Scooter Accident?

Missouri is a pure-comparative negligence insurance state. Under this system, an injury victim may recover compensation for their damages like medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering even if they contributed to the cause or severity of their injuries. The insurance company then deducts the injury victim’s percentage of fault from the payout on their compensation claim. For example, suppose an electric scooter rider navigates to the left of a car while the driver is parking and the driver opens the car door, causing a collision. The driver’s insurance company could assign 25% of the total fault to the scooter rider for moving into traffic on the left and 75% of the fault to the car driver for failing to check before opening the car door. In this case, if the injury victim’s total damages add up to $100,000, they would still recover $75,000. This system is beneficial for injury victims who contribute a portion of responsibility for an accident; however, insurance companies sometimes exploit comparative negligence by shifting liability to the injury victim to reduce the amount they have to pay out on an injury claim. Representation by an experienced personal injury lawyer safeguards the best interests of the injury victim throughout the process of negotiating a settlement.

Call Miller & Hine Attorneys at Law for Representation In Your St. Louis Electric Scooter Accident Case

Because electric scooters are still newcomers to St. Louis traffic, drivers, scooter riders, and pedestrians aren’t always certain about their legal rights and responsibilities in traffic. An insurance company may take advantage of this confusion to point the finger at others or assign an undue percentage of fault to the injury victim. It’s to your advantage to reach out to the experienced St. Louis e-scooter accident lawyers at Miller & Hine to safeguard your rights throughout the complex legal process ahead.