Electric Scooter Accident in California: Who Pays

You were on an electric scooter, either one you rented through an app or one you own, and now you are hurt. Maybe a car turned across your path, a pothole threw you, or the brake did nothing when you squeezed it. This post explains who can be responsible for a scooter crash in California, which insurance might actually pay, and what to save before it disappears.

The short version: a scooter rider is not required to carry insurance, so the claim depends on who or what caused the crash. That can be a driver, a scooter company, a property owner, or a city.

A scooter rider is treated like a driver

California does not treat a motorized scooter as a toy. Under Vehicle Code § 21221, a person riding a motorized scooter on a highway has all the rights, and is subject to all the rules, that apply to the driver of a vehicle, with some exceptions. That cuts both ways. Drivers owe you the same care they owe any other road user, and the insurer will measure your own riding against the rules of the road.

Vehicle Code § 21235 lists the scooter-specific rules. Among them, you may not:

• Ride a scooter that lacks a brake strong enough to make a wheel skid on dry pavement.
• Ride on a road with a speed limit over 25 mph unless you are in a Class II or Class IV bikeway (local authorities can raise that to 35 mph).
• Ride without a valid driver's license or instruction permit.
• Ride without a properly fitted bicycle helmet if you are under 18.
• Carry a passenger.
• Ride on the sidewalk, except as needed to enter or leave adjacent property.

Expect the adjuster to know this list well. If you were on the sidewalk, riding two-up, or on a 40 mph arterial, that will come up early.

Why scooter riders rarely have their own coverage

Under Vehicle Code § 21224, a person riding a motorized scooter is not subject to the Vehicle Code's financial responsibility, registration, and license plate requirements. In practical terms, nobody is required to carry liability insurance just to ride a scooter.

That matters in two situations. If a scooter rider hits you as a pedestrian, there may be no policy behind them at all. If you were the rider and you are hurt, there is no "scooter policy" that pays your medical bills. You have to look to whoever caused the crash, and to your own coverages.

If a car hit you

This works much like any other vehicle crash. The driver's liability insurance is the first place to look. The usual fault questions apply: who had the right of way, who was where, and whether anyone was speeding, distracted, or turning without looking.

If the driver had no insurance, fled, or carried too little, your own auto policy may still help even though you were not in your car. Insurance Code § 11580.2 defines an "insured" under an individual's policy to include the named insured, their spouse, and relatives living in the same household "while occupants of a motor vehicle or otherwise." Whether your specific policy pays on a scooter crash depends on its language, so read the policy itself, not just the declarations page. Our post on being hit by an uninsured driver explains how that coverage is calculated and the separate deadline it carries.

If the scooter itself failed

Brakes that fade, a throttle that sticks, a stem that folds, a battery that cuts out mid-intersection: these are equipment problems, not rider errors, and they point at whoever built, owned, or maintained the scooter.

Shared scooter companies operate under city permits, and those permits can tell you what the company was supposed to be doing. San Francisco's current scooter share permit is a good example. Among other things, it requires the operator to:

• Run a maintenance check on each scooter at least every two months.
• Pull any scooter that is inoperable or unsafe out of service within 24 hours after notice from the City or a verified user report, and repair it before renting it again.
• Give riders an in-app way to report a safety or maintenance problem, and offer a way to report a collision at the end of every ride.
• Keep records of reported collisions by severity and send them to the SFMTA.
• Carry commercial general liability insurance of at least $2,000,000 per occurrence and commercial auto liability of at least $1,000,000 per accident.

None of that proves a company was careless on your ride. It does tell you which records exist, such as maintenance logs, prior user reports on that scooter, and collision reports, and that the company is required to carry insurance. Other Bay Area cities set their own rules, so the details vary.

If you own the scooter, the manufacturer or seller may be responsible for a defect. Keep the scooter exactly as it is after the crash. Do not repair it, return it, or throw it out.

"But I agreed to the app's terms"

Rental apps make you accept a user agreement before you ride. Read yours, especially any release, any arbitration clause, and any deadline for opting out of arbitration.

A signed release is not the end of the conversation, though. California Civil Code § 1668 says contracts that try to exempt anyone from responsibility for their own fraud, willful injury, or violation of law, whether willful or negligent, are against the policy of the law. How far that reaches in a particular rental agreement is a fact-specific question, and it is one worth asking a lawyer before you assume you signed your claim away.

When the road caused the crash

Small wheels make scooters unforgiving of potholes, broken pavement, and debris in a bikeway. If a city, county, or Caltrans maintains the road, the claim is against a public entity, and the rules change. You generally must file a written government claim within six months of the injury before you can sue. Our post on the six-month government claim deadline walks through how that works.

Photograph the defect the same day if you can, with something for scale, and note the exact location. Road defects get patched, and once they are, your best evidence is gone.

What this means in California

Scooter injury claims generally run on the two-year personal injury statute of limitations in Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1. Claims against a public entity are different: the six-month government claim deadline comes first, long before the two-year date.

California's pure comparative negligence rule applies. If you were partly at fault, say you were riding on the sidewalk or on a street where scooters were not allowed, your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, not wiped out. Insurers know this rule too, and they will work hard to make your share as large as possible.

Evidence that disappears first

Scooter cases often depend on data and physical evidence that someone else controls. As soon as you are able:

• Screenshot your ride history, receipt, and the scooter's ID number from the app.
• Report the crash in the app if it offers that option, and keep a copy of what you submitted.
• Photograph the scooter, the road, the vehicle, and your injuries.
• Get names and numbers of witnesses, and the driver's insurance information.
• Ask in writing that the scooter company preserve the scooter, its maintenance records, and the ride data.

A shared scooter can be repaired or put back into service at any time. A preservation request sent early is far more useful than one sent after the scooter has been fixed and rented again.

Practical next steps

Get medical care and follow through on it, because gaps in treatment get used against you. Save everything from the app before your account history changes. Before giving any insurer a recorded statement, read our post on recorded statement traps. If the crash involved a defective scooter, a road defect, or an uninsured driver, sort out the deadlines first. If you want someone to look at your facts, a free consultation costs nothing and there is no fee unless there is a recovery.