Hit by an Electric Scooter in California: Can You Sue the Rider or the Company?

Rental scooters took over California in a few years. Bird launched in Santa Monica in fall 2017, before any city regulated them. Today Lime, Spin, and other micromobility services line nearly every corner from Venice to San Francisco. In one year, UCLA's Santa Monica ERs treated more scooter riders than cyclists.

When a scooter hits a pedestrian, or a rider gets thrown into traffic, who pays gets messier than an ordinary car crash. There can be three defendants: the rider, the scooter company, and the city, each pointing at the other two. Let's sort out who to hold responsible and how to actually get paid.

California e-scooter laws: what riders are legally required to do

California Vehicle Code 21235 and nearby sections lay out a rider's duties, and breaking almost any one is negligence by default. Here is what the law asks:

1. No faster than 15 mph, a hard cap on the device under Cal. Veh. Code § 22411, bike lanes included.
2. Stay off the sidewalk. A scooter belongs on the road or the bike lane (§ 21235(g)).
3. One person only, no passengers, and at least one hand on the handlebars.
4. A helmet is required only for riders under 18 (before 2019, for everyone).
5. After dark you need a front headlight and a red rear reflector (§ 21223).

One myth is worth killing: plenty of people assume you don't need a license for an e-scooter in California. You do. Cal. Veh. Code § 21235(d) requires a valid driver's license or permit. Riding drunk is out too, since Cal. Veh. Code § 21221 gives a rider the same responsibilities as a car driver.

Who is liable when an electric scooter hits a pedestrian or cyclist?

The rider is on the hook if they raced down a sidewalk, stared at a phone, carried a passenger, or rode drunk. The company behind the scooter, whether Bird, Lime, or Spin, shares blame when a brake fails, it skips months of maintenance, or it rented to someone it never should have. The city can be liable too if the cause was a pothole, a dead signal, or a bad bike lane.

Picture a pedestrian in a Santa Monica crosswalk, a scooter with a bad brake, a rider a beat too late. Both the rider (for negligence) and the operator (for the defect) can answer for the same crash. That shared scooter liability is exactly what California lets you pursue: several defendants at once, and how liability gets divided directly affects your recovery. Mind the insurance gap, too: under Cal. Veh. Code § 407.5, the maker must warn buyers that a personal auto or home policy may not cover a scooter crash.

Can you sue Bird, Lime, or Spin after a scooter accident?

The rental app greets you with a long user agreement, buried in which is some line about riding at your own risk. The companies want you to treat it as ironclad protection. It isn't.

Cal. Civ. Code § 1668 voids any contract that tries to excuse someone from responsibility for fraud, willful injury, or a violation of law. Tapping "agree" does not erase the operator's liability for gross negligence or a defective product. Tellingly, Lime's own user agreement carves gross negligence and willful misconduct out of its release, putting in the contract exactly what the law already demands.

When a manufacturing defect causes the injury (a brake that quits, an overheated battery), strict product liability applies, a doctrine from the 1963 California case Greenman v. Yuba Power Products. You don't have to prove negligence, only the defect and the harm it caused. And this isn't hypothetical: Bird and Lime were sued in California over gross negligence and defective products in 2018 and 2020.

What damages can scooter accident victims recover?

Cal. Civ. Code § 3333 frames it broadly: you can recover for all the harm a wrong causes, even harm nobody saw coming. That recovery splits into two buckets.

Economic damages are the ones with receipts: the ambulance and ER, surgery, physical therapy, future treatment and lost wages. Non-economic damages are just as real but harder to price: pain, PTSD and the loss of things you used to enjoy. If the crash was fatal, the family can bring a wrongful death claim.

The numbers get serious. A pedestrian with a broken hip can easily top $150,000, and a severe traumatic brain injury runs about $115,300 over a lifetime (a general U.S. benchmark, not scooter-specific). You can ballpark your own scooter accident compensation with a settlement calculator. One California wrinkle kicks in with several defendants: under Prop 51 (Cal. Civ. Code § 1431.2), each pays non-economic damages only in proportion to its fault, while economic damages can be joint.

How long do you have to file a lawsuit in California? (statute of limitations)

You have less time than you think. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 gives you two years from the injury date to file a personal injury suit. Miss that window and the court throws the case out, no matter how serious the injury.

The exceptions run shorter, not longer. Against a city or other public entity, you first file a formal claim, and Cal. Gov. Code § 911.2 gives you just six months. For minors, the clock shifts the other way. Sorting out which statute of limitations applies is best done in the first weeks after a crash, not the last.

What to do immediately after being hit by an electric scooter

The first few hours shape a case more than people realize. Work through it in order:

1. Call 911 and get the incident on a police report.
2. Photograph the scooter, the rider, and the scene.
3. Snap the QR or ID code on the frame; it identifies the operator.
4. Collect contact info from witnesses.
5. See a doctor the same day, even if you feel fine.
6. Post nothing on social media.
7. Call a lawyer before you talk to any insurer.

It follows the firm's SAD system (Safety, Ambulance, Document): get safe first, then document everything you can.

Why hiring an accident lawyer gives victims a decisive advantage

This is where an electric scooter accident lawyer does three things better than a victim going it alone.

First, they find every defendant. People who file alone usually see one wrongdoer and miss the second or third source of recovery. A scooter injury attorney, or any experienced micromobility accident lawyer, lines up the rider's conduct, the device's maintenance history, and the road's condition so nobody slips through.

They also refuse the first number. Insurers almost always open with a lowball offer, and a lawyer answers with medical records and expert testimony showing the full scale of the harm.

And then there's the money. Hiring a personal injury attorney in California costs nothing up front: Kermani LLP works on a contingency fee, so you pay nothing until the case is won. The firm has recovered more than $100M for clients, and the Kermani Method behind that number is relentless investigation, not vague promises.

Hurt by a scooter in California? Kermani LLP will review your case for free. See how our California personal injury attorneys handle claims like yours, then reach out today.