What if I was riding on the sidewalk when the car hit me?

Sidewalk legality varies sharply by state. California prohibits e-scooter riding on any sidewalk statewide (CVC 21235(g)). Florida defaults to allowing sidewalk operation under the bicycle-rights provision of Fla. Stat. 316.2128 unless a local ordinance prohibits it. Texas (Tex. Transp. Code 551.352) allows sidewalk operation unless a local government has prohibited it. New York City prohibits sidewalk operation in most zones. Where sidewalk operation is illegal, the at-fault driver's insurer will likely raise comparative fault. The argument does not bar recovery in pure-comparative states (California, Florida); it reduces the award by the rider's fault percentage. In modified-comparative states with a 50% or 51% bar (Colorado, Texas, Illinois, Georgia), if the rider is found over the bar, recovery is zero.

E-Scooter Accident Settlement Calculator: 2026 Cited Guide

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Quick Answer and Key Cited Statistics

An e-scooter rider hit by a car is in a different legal posture than a bicyclist or pedestrian. The rider is on a small motorized device, often without a helmet, frequently on or near a sidewalk, and may have signed a rental user agreement that mandates arbitration with the scooter company. Insurance classifications were written for cars, bicycles, and pedestrians; scooters fit none of them cleanly, which is why coverage outcomes vary sharply by state and policy.

Real public outcomes range from $200,000 to $3.3 million in scooter-vs-vehicle cases with documented injuries. The single most-missed coverage layer is the rider's own auto UM/UIM policy, which commonly applies when the rider is struck by a motor vehicle even while on a scooter.

E-Scooter Injury Data at a Glance

E-scooter ED visits, 2017: 8,566 (CPSC NEISS)
E-scooter ED visits, 2022: 56,847 (CPSC NEISS)
E-scooter ED visits, 2024: approximately 115,713 (CPSC NEISS, ScienceDaily summary)
Increase 2020 to 2024: 3.94x
Head injuries, JAMA 2019 (Trivedi): 40.2% of 249 ED patients
Helmet usage, JAMA 2019 (Trivedi): 4.4% of injured riders
Vehicle-collision share, JAMA 2019 (Trivedi): 8.8% of mechanism types
Hospital-admission rate, JAMA 2019 (Trivedi): 6.0% of ED patients
Severe injuries in Austin Public Health/CDC 2018-2019 study: 42%
Micromobility deaths 2017-2022 (CPSC): 233 total, 111 from e-scooters
Most common death mechanism (CPSC): collisions with cars and control issues
2024 head-injury share (CPSC): 18.42% of 115,713 e-scooter injuries
2024 under-15 e-scooter injuries (CPSC): 17,641 (more than doubled)

Sources: CPSC, "E-Scooter and E-Bike Injuries Soar" (2024); Trivedi et al., "Injuries Associated With Standing Electric Scooter Use," JAMA Network Open (2019); Austin Public Health and CDC, Dockless Electric Scooter-Related Injuries Study (2019); ScienceDaily summary of CPSC 2024 micromobility data.

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Why Scooter-vs-Vehicle Cases Are Different

E-scooter cases sit between bicycle, pedestrian, and motorcycle law without fitting any of them cleanly. That gap drives almost every defense argument and every coverage dispute in this case type.

Speed differential and biomechanics

Most shared e-scooters are governed to 15 mph (California statutory cap, CVC 22411) or 20 mph (most other states). Cars typically strike them at 25 to 45 mph. The Trivedi 2019 JAMA Network Open study found 40.2% head injuries among 249 ED patients in two West Los Angeles hospitals over a one-year period, despite 91.2% of those injuries arising from falls (80.2%) and other non-vehicle mechanisms. When a vehicle is involved, injury severity climbs sharply.

No protective infrastructure

Riders have no airbags, no seatbelts, no crumple zones, and rarely a helmet. The Trivedi study documented a 4.4% helmet rate among injured riders and a 5.7% helmet rate (94.3% bare-headed) among 193 riders observed at Los Angeles intersections in September 2018. Head and facial injuries dominate.

Contested fault

Defense insurers raise three predictable arguments: the rider was on the sidewalk where it was illegal, the rider was not wearing a helmet, and the rider was over the legal speed for the device. These arguments do not bar recovery in most states, but they reduce the settlement under comparative-fault doctrine. In strict modified-comparative states (Colorado, Georgia, with a 50% bar; Texas, Illinois, Florida post-HB 837, with a 51% bar), if the rider is pushed over the bar the recovery is zero.

Insurance classifications were not written for scooters

State no-fault and PIP statutes were drafted before e-scooter share systems existed. New Jersey's Supreme Court held in Goyco v. Progressive Insurance Co., 257 N.J. 313 (2024), that an e-scooter rider hit by a car was not a "pedestrian" under the No-Fault Act and therefore not entitled to PIP benefits. New Jersey reversed this by statute in January 2026 (S4834/A6235), but the underlying issue remains live in many states.

The rideshare-app overlay

Bird and Lime user agreements include binding individual arbitration clauses and class-action waivers. These do not bar a tort claim against the driver who hit the rider, but they cover any product or app-related claim against the company. See the dedicated user-agreement section below.

Sources: Trivedi et al., JAMA Network Open (2019); Goyco v. Progressive Ins. Co., 257 N.J. 313 (2024); California Vehicle Code 22411 (15 mph cap).

Settlement Values by Injury Type

E-scooter vs. motor vehicle settlement ranges below are anchored to documented public verdicts and to comparable bodily-injury claim data. Actual case value depends on injury severity, treatment intensity, fault allocation, available coverage, and state law.

Injury Type	Typical Range	Notes
Soft tissue (sprains, road rash, contusions)	$8,000 to $35,000	Most common. Driven by visit count and PT duration.
Dental and facial lacerations	$15,000 to $75,000	Common when no helmet. Implants and reconstruction drive value.
Closed fractures (wrist, ankle, clavicle)	$25,000 to $125,000	Trivedi 2019 found distal upper-extremity fractures in 12.5% of injured riders. ORIF surgery raises value.
Concussion and mild TBI	$30,000 to $200,000	Documented post-concussive symptoms and neuropsych testing drive higher recovery.
Disc herniation (cervical or lumbar)	$40,000 to $200,000+	$200,000 to $500,000+ if surgery (discectomy, fusion).
Multiple fractures with surgery	$100,000 to $500,000+	$1.25 million MA settlement is in this band.
Moderate to severe TBI	$250,000 to $2 million+	Documented cognitive deficits with vocational impact drive seven-figure outcomes.
Spinal cord injury	$500,000 to $5 million+	Paraplegia and quadriplegia drive the upper end.
Wrongful death	$500,000 to $5 million+	Spans state survivor and wrongful-death statutes; varies sharply with state caps.

Documented public verdicts (e-scooter and motorized scooter)

$3.3 million settlement, New York: 40-year-old male scooter operator struck by a van that made a left turn into his path. Injuries: thoracic vertebral fracture requiring fusion, mild traumatic brain injury, and bilateral knee and shoulder injuries. Surveillance footage from a nearby camera was instrumental. Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Halperin and Crosier.
$3 million jury verdict, St. Louis County, October 16, 2025: Jason Wheeler, e-scooter rider on Wydown Boulevard in Clayton, Missouri, struck a pile of gravel left in a bike lane by a pool contractor. Injuries: broken arm, road rash, herniated disc. $3 million compensatory plus $10,000 punitive. Simon Law PC, Judge Brian May presiding. (This is a road-condition case rather than a vehicle-collision case but is included for verdict-magnitude reference.)
$1.25 million settlement, Massachusetts: Motorized scooter crash victim. Initial offer $250,000 grew to $1.25 million over negotiation. Mark E. Salomone.
$200,000 settlement, San Francisco: E-scooter rider hit by a commercial vehicle. Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers.

Sources: Wingate, Russotti et al., $3.3M scooter vs. van settlement; Simon Law PC, $3M St. Louis verdict (Oct. 2025); Mark E. Salomone, $1.25M scooter settlement; Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers, $200K e-scooter vs. commercial vehicle.

Liability and Fault Allocation

Liability in e-scooter vs. motor vehicle cases is rarely a clean win. Defense insurers almost always raise comparative fault. Understanding the doctrine in your state determines whether those arguments cap your recovery or wipe it out.

Comparative-fault rules by category

Pure comparative fault (recover even at 99% fault): California, Florida, New York, Washington, Arizona, and others. Damages are simply reduced by the rider's percentage.
Modified comparative fault, 50% bar (no recovery if 50% or more at fault): Colorado, Georgia, Maine, and several others.
Modified comparative fault, 51% bar (no recovery if more than 50% at fault): Texas, Illinois, and most modified states; Florida joined this group in 2023 (HB 837).
Pure contributory negligence (1% rider fault bars recovery): Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and DC. Devastating for scooter cases.

The three predictable defense arguments

Sidewalk operation: Where prohibited by state or local law (California statewide; many NYC zones; Georgia statewide), the carrier argues the rider violated the law and contributed to the crash. Courts and juries weigh whether the violation actually caused the collision.
Helmet non-use: In states with adult-helmet rules, non-use can be evidence of comparative fault for head injuries (not for unrelated injuries). In states with no adult requirement, the argument is weaker but adjusters still raise it.
Speed and tampering: Some riders unlock devices or modify governors. If the rider was over the legal device speed (15 mph in CA, often 20 mph elsewhere), the carrier will argue contributory speed. Trip data from Bird or Lime can confirm or refute this.

Driver-fault factors that strengthen the rider's position

Left turn across the rider's path (the most common scooter-vs-car mechanism).
Right hook (driver turning right cuts off rider in bike lane or shoulder).
Door-zone strikes (vehicle door opened in front of moving rider).
Failure to yield at marked crosswalks or unsignalized intersections.
Distracted driving (phone, infotainment) corroborated by phone records or surveillance video.
Speed in excess of the posted limit, established by accident-reconstruction.

Practical implication

The rider's state of residence (or where the crash happened) often matters more than the facts of the crash. The same fall-pattern in California yields recovery; in Maryland, it may yield zero.

The Insurance Coverage Stack for E-Scooter Riders

Most injured scooter riders identify only one source: the at-fault driver's liability policy. Six layers commonly exist. The most-overlooked is the rider's own auto UM/UIM.

At-fault driver's bodily-injury liability

The primary recovery source. State minimums vary widely (15/30 in California, 30/60 in Texas, 25/50 in Florida, 25/50 in New York, 25/50/50 in Colorado). Many drivers carry only state minimums, which exhausts quickly on a serious injury. This is why the layers below matter.

The rider's own auto MedPay

MedPay covers medical expenses regardless of fault, with no subrogation in most states. Auto MedPay typically "travels with you" when struck by a motor vehicle as a non-occupant, including on a scooter. Common limits run $1,000 to $10,000.

The rider's own auto UM/UIM (most-missed)

Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is the bridge when the at-fault driver is uninsured, hit-and-run, or has policy limits below the rider's damages. UM/UIM commonly applies when the insured is struck by a motor vehicle while pedestrian, bicyclist, or scooter rider. Stacking is allowed in roughly 30 states. This is the layer most-frequently missed in scooter-rider claims.

Household auto policies

UM/UIM coverage commonly extends to resident relatives. A rider who does not own a car but lives with a parent or spouse who does should check the household policy. Definitions vary; consult an attorney before assuming coverage is or is not available.

State PIP or no-fault (where applicable)

PIP coverage for scooter riders is contested and state-specific. New Jersey ruled against PIP in Goyco v. Progressive Ins. Co., 257 N.J. 313 (2024), then reversed by statute in January 2026. New York's no-fault Insurance Law Article 51 generally allows the at-fault driver's PIP to cover the injured rider as a non-occupant. Florida PIP requires a "motor vehicle" and generally does not extend to scooter operators. Michigan no-fault generally excludes scooter riders. State law and policy language control.

Health insurance with subrogation negotiation

Health insurance is the first-dollar source for ER care for many riders, and ERISA-plan and Medicare/Medicaid liens must be handled before a settlement closes. Lien resolution is often where 10 to 25% of a settlement is lost or recovered, depending on negotiation.

What Bird, Lime, and Spin do NOT cover

Shared scooter companies typically carry liability insurance for claims against them (product defect, inadequate maintenance, app failure), not first-party rider coverage. A rider hit by a car looks to the driver's policy and to the rider's own coverage layers, not to the scooter company's policy.

The PIP-exclusion trap

In Florida, the 14-day medical-care window of Fla. Stat. 627.736 governs PIP eligibility for car-occupant claims. Scooter riders are generally not eligible for the driver's PIP under Florida law because PIP requires a "motor vehicle" classification the scooter does not meet. Riders should rely on the driver's bodily-injury liability coverage and the rider's own UM/UIM. Do not assume PIP applies.

Sources: Goyco v. Progressive Ins. Co., 257 N.J. 313 (2024); Insurance Journal, "High Court: E-Scooter Rider Hit by Car Not Eligible for No-Fault PIP Benefits"; Fla. Stat. 316.2128 (Florida micromobility devices).

Bird, Lime, and Spin User Agreements: Arbitration and Class-Action Waivers

Every shared-scooter app requires acceptance of a user agreement before the first ride. Bird and Lime both include binding individual arbitration clauses and class-action waivers. Section numbers below reference current and recent versions of each company's public user agreement; both companies update these documents periodically and you should review the version applicable to your specific ride.

Bird user agreement (the 30-day opt-out window)

Binding individual arbitration (Bird user agreement section 9). Disputes between rider and Bird go to arbitration, not court.
Class-action waiver (section 9.4). Riders cannot bring or join a class action against Bird.
Jury-trial waiver (section 9.2). By accepting arbitration, the rider waives a jury.
Venue (section 9.3). Arbitration takes place in Los Angeles regardless of where the injury occurred.
Opt-out (section 9.6). The rider may opt out of the arbitration and class-action waivers by sending written notice within 30 days of the first ride. After 30 days, the rider is presumed to have accepted the waivers.

Lime user agreement (no unilateral opt-out)

Binding individual arbitration (Lime user agreement section 2). The word "arbitration" appears 30 times in the document.
Class-action waiver (section 2.8). Riders waive class actions against Lime.
Jury-trial waiver (section 2.3).
Venue. Lime allows arbitration to take place in the area where the rider resides.
No unilateral opt-out. Amendments to Lime's arbitration provision require Lime's written consent.

Spin user agreement

Spin, like Lime, allows arbitration to take place in the rider's area of residence. Spin's arbitration and class-action provisions are similar in structure to Bird's and Lime's. Riders should review the current Spin terms applicable at the time of the ride.

What these clauses do NOT bar

The arbitration and class-action waivers cover disputes between the rider and the scooter company. They generally do not bar the rider's independent tort claim against the at-fault driver. A rider hit by a car still sues the driver in regular court, regardless of the rental contract. The clauses do affect product-defect, app-failure, or maintenance claims against the scooter company itself.

Read the user agreement before the first ride

Bird's 30-day opt-out is meaningful. A rider who opts out preserves the right to sue Bird in court and to join class actions, in case the scooter or app contributes to the injury. Lime does not offer a similar opt-out. Both opt-outs and arbitration are unrelated to claims against drivers.

Sources: Shouse Law Group analysis of Bird and Lime user agreements; Lime user agreement (current); Hasbrook and Hasbrook, Lime terms of service analysis; Bloomberg Law on Bird and Lime user-agreement enforcement.

State Laws and Helmet Requirements

State e-scooter laws were largely written between 2018 and 2021 in response to dockless share-scooter rollouts. They are still evolving. The summaries below cite the operative statutes; readers should verify current versions before relying on any specific provision.

California (CVC 21220-21235)

Helmet: Required for riders under 18 (CVC 21235(c)). Adults are not required.
License: A valid driver's license or instruction permit is required (CVC 21235(d)).
Sidewalks: Prohibited statewide (CVC 21235(g)).
Speed cap on devices: 15 mph (CVC 22411).
Bike lane and roadway: Permitted; must use bike lane where available on roads with speed limits over 25 mph (CVC 21229).

New York (VTL Article 34)

Helmet: Required for riders under 18 (NYC VAT § 1286(1)).
Roadways: Permitted on roads with speed limits at or below 30 mph.
NYC sidewalks: Prohibited.
Pending legislation: NY S7968 would expand the helmet requirement to all ages.

Texas (Tex. Transp. Code 551.351-352)

Helmet: No statewide rule.
Roadways: Permitted on roads with speed limits at or below 35 mph (551.352).
Sidewalks: Permitted unless a local government prohibits.
Local rules: Many cities (Austin, Houston, San Antonio) restrict sidewalk operation by ordinance.

Florida (Fla. Stat. 316.2128)

Helmet: Required for riders under 16 (cross-references Fla. Stat. 316.2065).
License and registration: Not required (316.2128(2)).
Sidewalks: Default-allowed under bicycle-rights provision; local governments may prohibit.
Speed cap on devices: 20 mph.

Georgia (OCGA 40-6-377 framework)

Helmet: Required for riders under 16.
Sidewalks and crosswalks: Prohibited.
Roadway and bike lane: Permitted.

Illinois (625 ILCS 5/11-1517 framework)

Minimum age: 18 to operate a low-speed e-scooter under state law.
Helmet: No statewide rule; local ordinances may apply.
Speed cap on low-speed devices: 10 mph.

Washington (RCW 46.04.336 and 46.61.710)

Helmet: No statewide rule; RCW 46.37.530 requires compliance with local helmet ordinances.
Roadways: Permitted on roads with speed limits at or below 25 mph.
Bike lanes and shared-use paths: Permitted unless signed otherwise.

Colorado (low-power-scooter framework, CRS 42-1-102 and CRS 42-4-1502)

Helmet: Required for riders and passengers under 18 (CRS 42-4-1502(4.5) framework).
Comparative fault: Modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar (CRS 13-21-111). The rider recovers if less than 50% at fault.
SOL: Three years for motor vehicle accidents (CRS 13-80-101). Longer than the two-year SOL most other states apply.
Noneconomic damage cap: $1.5 million (under CRS 13-21-102.5; subject to inflation adjustment and exception thresholds).
Required UM/UIM and MedPay: $25,000/$50,000 UM/UIM and $5,000 MedPay are statutory minimums; many drivers carry more.
Local ordinances: Denver and Boulder regulate sidewalk operation, parking, and speed by city code; both have active dockless e-scooter share programs.

Sources: California Vehicle Code 21235; Fla. Stat. 316.2128; Tex. Transp. Code Chapter 551; PI Lawyers, NYC e-scooter law summary; Cogan Gandy Hines, Colorado e-scooter regulations 2026.

Common Injuries (Clinical)

The peer-reviewed literature on e-scooter injury patterns is small but consistent. The Trivedi 2019 JAMA Network Open study (n=249 ED patients across two West Los Angeles hospitals over one year) is the foundational reference and remains the most-cited dataset.

Head injuries: 40.2% of injured riders. 95 of 100 head injuries were minor; 5 involved intracranial hemorrhage.
Fractures: 31.7% of injured riders. Distal upper-extremity fractures (wrist) most common at 12.5%.
Soft-tissue injuries: 27.7%.
Hospital admission: 6.0% of ED patients; 2 patients (0.8%) admitted to ICU.
Mechanism: falls 80.2%, hit-by-vehicle 8.8%, hit by object 3.6%, hit pedestrian 0.8%.
Helmet rate at injury: 4.4%.

The CPSC's 2017-2022 micromobility report adds context: scooter-related injuries more often require surgical management and are associated with greater risks of long-bone fractures and paralysis compared with bicycle-related injuries. The Austin Public Health and CDC study of dockless e-scooter injuries (Sept-Nov 2018) found that 42% of injuries were severe and 8% required more than 48 hours of hospitalization.

When the mechanism is a vehicle collision rather than a fall, the injury severity distribution shifts dramatically toward the high end. Vehicle-strike scooter cases more commonly involve TBI, multi-region trauma, and orthopedic surgery.

Sources: Trivedi et al., JAMA Network Open (2019); Austin Public Health and CDC Dockless E-Scooter Study (2019); ScienceDaily summary of CPSC 2024 micromobility data.

What to Document at the Scene and After

E-scooter cases hinge on evidence that often disappears within minutes. The eight steps below are the field-tested checklist.

Call 911 and request a police report

The officer's diagram and statement become the anchor document. Refusing transport at the scene is logged and is later used by adjusters to argue the injury was minor.

Get the driver's name, license, plate, and insurance information

Photograph the insurance card, license, plate, VIN, and the vehicle. The driver's bodily-injury liability policy is the primary recovery source.

Photograph the scene before anything moves

Capture the scooter, the vehicle, the road position, lane markings, traffic controls, debris, skid marks, and surrounding area. Photographs lock in the road position and lane usage before the scene is cleared. Vehicle-collision scooter cases are a minority of scooter injuries (8.8% in Trivedi 2019), so insurers scrutinize them.

Screenshot the rental app trip data

If you rented from Bird, Lime, or Spin, the app records ride start, end, route, and speed. Screenshot the trip summary, the ride map, and any in-app crash report before logging out. Companies can later restrict access.

Identify witnesses and surveillance cameras

Get names and phone numbers of every witness. Look for nearby surveillance cameras (storefronts, intersections, doorbell cameras). The $3.3 million New York scooter-vs-van settlement turned on surveillance footage from a nearby camera.

See a doctor the same day

Adrenaline masks injury for the first 24 hours. Same-day care locks in causation and avoids the treatment-gap argument adjusters use to reduce settlement value.

Notify your own auto insurer

Even though you were not in your car, your own auto policy's UM/UIM and MedPay commonly apply when struck by a motor vehicle as a non-occupant. Call your agent.

Decline a recorded statement to the at-fault driver's insurer

You are not legally required to give a recorded statement to the at-fault driver's carrier. Adjusters use these to lock in early descriptions. Get medical care and consult an attorney before agreeing.

Recent Legal Changes (2024-2026)

Goyco v. Progressive Insurance Co. (N.J. 2024)

On May 14, 2024, the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed that an e-scooter rider hit by a car was not a "pedestrian" under the No-Fault Act and therefore not entitled to PIP benefits. The plaintiff, David Goyco, was struck by an automobile on November 22, 2021, while operating a Segway Ninebot KickScooter Max. Progressive denied PIP. The Court held that "the plain text and legislative history of N.J.S.A. 39:4-14.16 do not suggest that the Legislature intended" e-scooter operators to be treated as pedestrians, and the bicycle-as-pedestrian framework requires "muscular power" that motorized scooters do not provide. Goyco was widely cited as a sign of how state PIP statutes were not written for shared scooters.

New Jersey reverses by statute (S4834/A6235, signed January 19, 2026)

Outgoing Governor Phil Murphy signed S4834/A6235, expanding insurance coverage by defining bicycle, low-speed e-bike, and low-speed e-scooter operators as pedestrians for insurance purposes. After the law's effective date, an e-scooter rider hit by a car in New Jersey can claim PIP benefits under the at-fault driver's no-fault policy. The law also imposes licensing, registration, and crash-reporting requirements on e-bike riders; compliance deadline July 19, 2026.

California SB 371 (rideshare UM/UIM reduction, January 2026)

Not directly an e-scooter rule, but relevant: the law reduced rideshare UM/UIM coverage from $1 million to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident as of January 1, 2026. Impacts pedestrians, scooter riders, and bicyclists struck by Uber/Lyft drivers in California, where the rideshare driver was historically the deepest UM/UIM source.

New York pending legislation

NY Senate Bill S7968 would expand the helmet requirement from riders under 18 to all riders. As of this writing, the bill is in committee. If enacted, helmet non-use becomes a stronger comparative-fault argument in New York.

CPSC continued data collection

The CPSC's September 2024 update reported that micromobility ED visits rose 21% in 2022 over 2021 and that e-scooter rates of injury growth outpaced e-bike rates. The agency is continuing to monitor the trend, with implications for future product-safety standards.

Sources: Goyco v. Progressive opinion (PDF); The Jersey Vindicator on the January 2026 NJ e-bike/e-scooter law; Insurance Journal on NJ S4834/A6235; NY Senate Bill S7968 (helmet expansion); CPSC 2024 e-scooter injury release.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average settlement for an e-scooter accident with a vehicle?

There is no published industry-wide average for e-scooter vs. motor vehicle settlements specifically; the cases are too new and too varied. Real public outcomes span a wide range: $200,000 (Sally Morin, e-scooter vs. commercial vehicle, San Francisco), $1.25 million (Mark E. Salomone, motorized scooter, Massachusetts), $3.3 million (Wingate Russotti et al., scooter vs. van, New York; thoracic vertebral fusion, mTBI, bilateral knees and shoulders), and a $3 million October 2025 St. Louis County jury verdict for an e-scooter rider injured by a contractor's gravel pile (Simon Law PC). Settlement value is driven by injury severity, helmet status under state law, fault allocation, and available coverage layers.

Can I sue Bird or Lime if I was hit by a car while on one of their scooters?

The Bird and Lime user agreements do not bar a third-party tort claim against the at-fault driver. The arbitration and class-action waiver provisions cover disputes between rider and company. They do not prevent suing the driver who hit you in regular court. The agreements can affect a separate product-defect or app-failure claim against the company.

Can I get out of Bird's arbitration clause?

Bird's user agreement (section 9.6) allows opt-out within 30 days of the first ride by sending written notice to Bird's corporate address. After 30 days, the rider is presumed to have accepted binding individual arbitration in Los Angeles. Lime does not provide a unilateral opt-out. If the 30 days has passed, an attorney can analyze whether the clause is enforceable in the rider's specific state.

Does my own auto insurance cover me when I'm hit on a scooter?

Frequently yes, and this is the most-overlooked coverage layer in e-scooter cases. Many auto policies provide MedPay (regardless of fault) and uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage that travels with the insured when struck by a motor vehicle, including while on a scooter, walking, or bicycling. Coverage depends on policy language and state law. Always check the declarations page and call your agent.

Am I covered by no-fault PIP if I'm a scooter rider in Florida, Michigan, or New York?

PIP coverage for scooter riders is fact-specific. New Jersey ruled against PIP in Goyco v. Progressive, 257 N.J. 313 (2024), then reversed by statute in January 2026. New York's no-fault generally allows the at-fault driver's PIP to cover the injured non-occupant. Florida PIP generally does not extend to scooter operators. Michigan no-fault generally excludes scooter riders. State law and policy language control.

Will not wearing a helmet hurt my settlement?

Depends on state helmet law and comparative-fault rules. California requires helmets only for riders under 18 (CVC 21235(c)). NYC requires helmets for under-18 (NYC VAT § 1286(1)). Florida requires helmets for under-16 (Fla. Stat. 316.2128 cross-reference). Texas has no statewide rule. Colorado requires under-18 helmets (CRS 42-4-1502 framework). Even where adults are not required to wear a helmet, defense insurers raise non-use as comparative negligence. Whether that argument reduces damages depends on state seatbelt-defense and comparative-fault doctrine.

What if I was on the sidewalk when the car hit me?

Sidewalk legality varies sharply. California prohibits e-scooter sidewalk riding statewide (CVC 21235(g)). Florida defaults to allowing sidewalk operation (Fla. Stat. 316.2128) unless local ordinance prohibits. Texas (Tex. Transp. Code 551.352) allows it unless local government has prohibited. NYC prohibits in most zones. Where sidewalk operation is illegal, the carrier raises comparative fault. The argument does not bar recovery in pure-comparative states (CA, FL); it reduces by the rider's fault percentage. In modified-comparative states with a 50% or 51% bar (CO, TX, IL, GA), if the rider is over the bar, recovery is zero.

What insurance coverage layers can a scooter rider tap when hit by a car?

Up to six. The at-fault driver's bodily-injury liability (primary). The rider's own auto MedPay (no fault, no subrogation in most states). The rider's own auto UM/UIM (most-missed). Household auto policies. Health insurance (subrogation). Homeowner's/renter's medical-payments rider (rare). Bird, Lime, and Spin generally do not provide rider injury coverage.

How quickly do I have to file an e-scooter accident claim?

The statute of limitations is set by state. Two years is most common (CA, TX, IL, FL, GA). NY is three years for personal injury. CO is three years for motor vehicle accidents (CRS 13-80-101). Some states require notice within months for government-defendant claims. PIP windows are even shorter where applicable (FL requires medical care within 14 days under Fla. Stat. 627.736). Do not wait.

Are e-scooter accidents really that common?

Yes, and growing fast. CPSC NEISS data shows e-scooter ED visits grew from 8,566 in 2017 to 56,847 in 2022 to roughly 115,713 in 2024 (a 3.94x increase since 2020). The CPSC's 2017-2022 micromobility report documented 233 micromobility-related deaths, with nearly half (111) involving e-scooters and most caused by collisions with cars. Trivedi 2019 found 40.2% head injuries and only 4.4% helmet usage among 249 ED patients in two West LA hospitals.

Sources

Every numeric claim in this guide traces to a primary source. Where a research paper or government report is paywalled or pre-publication, an alternative public summary is also cited.

Government and peer-reviewed

Court opinions and statutes

User agreements and analyses

Public verdicts and settlements

Legislative response and recent changes

E-scooter riders facing similar issues may also find these SetCalc guides useful: Bicycle accident settlement guide, Pedestrian accident settlement guide, TBI settlement calculator, Broken bone settlement calculator.

E-Scooter Accident Settlement Calculator