Bird scooters are causing a massive amount of brain injuries here in California and across the country. Some of these injuries are so severe that people are dying or are permanently disabled. Even when injured riders are able to make a full recovery from their injuries, the pain and suffering coupled with medical bills and missed work can be very difficult and disruptive. There are a number of contributing factors to scooter accidents and Long Beach brain injury attorneys frequently see very serious injury cases as a result of these accidents.
Contributing factors to the danger of scooters
While Bird and Lime are the most popular line of rent and drop scooters, there are a number of different scooter companies using the same app rental concept. Some of the dangers many of these scooters have in common include the following:
- Riders do not receive training before they ride. Bird and other scooters may offer training in the form of a video or list of dos and do not before hitting the road, but they generally do not require riders to watch and read them before rental.
- Most people are not wearing helmets. Some of the scooter companies offer free helmets, but you have to request one and do not get it on the spot.
- The scooters may not be well maintained and some companies farm out maintenance to nonprofessionals. They often hire local people who are fixing and maintaining these scooters in their basements and have no prior training in scooter repair and maintenance.
- The maximum speed scooters can travel is very high, approximately 15 to 20 miles per hour and when you have an accident going that fast, you have a high chance of serious injury.
- Scooters have a short wheelbase and the wheels are small which means that they do not handle bumps, cracks, and other defects in the road and sidewalks very well.
- People are reporting common defects in scooters that are extremely dangerous such as braking defects, which creates an obvious danger because people are unable to stop a scooter that is going 20 miles per hour. Another problem reported is that some scooters essentially break in half when the handlebars separate from the base after going over small bumps.
- Scooters ride on sidewalks and in crosswalks and they have been hit by cars, sometimes due to their own operation errors and sometimes due to negligent drivers or scooter defects.
Brain and other types of injuries
Brain injuries are one of the most serious and common injuries sustained in scooter accidents and recovery can be very difficult and long term, depending on the severity of the brain injury. In addition to brain injuries, there are many other injuries frequently suffered in scooter accidents such as dislocated and broken bones, road rash, broken teeth, cuts and lacerations, and internal bleeding.
If you have sustained injuries in a scooter accident, contact a Long Beach brain injury attorney at JML Law to discuss your accident and injuries sustained.
