Were you injured in a Tampa electric scooter accident? If so, you might be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Contact a Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney today to see how we can help you.
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How A Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney Can Help You
The city of Tampa provides electric scooters from four of the largest micro-mobility companies in the country: Lime, Bird, Sin, and Hopr. While these companies provide low-cost, convenient modes of transportation, they also create a disturbing trend: electric scooter accidents that end with severe injuries.
Our personal injury law firm has a proven track record of winning generous compensation for clients throughout Florida and Tampa. Navigating a personal injury claim without professional legal help can be challenging. Here’s what you can expect when you hire us:
- A thorough investigation into your electric scooter accident to identify all responsible parties
- Communicating with insurance companies for you
- Help you understand all of your legal options
- Entrusting the services of top-quality experts and specialists to build a case in your favor
- Fight to win you the maximum compensation possible
Insurance companies don’t make it easy for injury victims to get money after an accident. Their goal is to avoid liability and minimize payouts. Unfortunately, that means your settlement amount could be affected. But an experienced Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney who can anticipate their tactics will know how to strategize a win for you.
Working with a reputable Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney is the best way to protect your rights and get fair damage compensation.
How Common Are Electric Scooter Accidents in Tampa?
Electric scooters have become a major form of transportation for Florida residents. For many, it’s part of a regular workday routine, not just for weekend fun. Since Tampa’s pilot e-scooter program launched in 2019, there have been 1,800 rentable scooters in neighborhoods like Hyde Park, Ybor City, West River, and Tampa Heights.
Tampa scooters have traveled over 3 million miles with an average of 1.2 miles per trip. Soon there will be scooters with seats and adaptations for people with disabilities. But the University of South Florida reported a significant spike in hospital visits due to electric scooter accidents since the program launched.
Furthermore, a US Consumer Product Safety Commission report from 2021 reported a 70% increase in electric scooter injuries from 2018 to 2021. And in 2020, the Miami Herald reported tens of thousands of injuries in the US and over 3,000 hospitalizations from electric scooter accidents.
You don’t have to become a statistic if you were injured in an electric scooter accident. However, you can get solid legal advice from a Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney to make educated decisions. This will better your odds of winning a fair financial recovery.
How Much Can I Get for My Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Claim?
While money doesn’t make your pain and suffering disappear, it is vital to helping injury victims feel financially secure after an accident. Unfortunately, insurance companies try to pay injury victims less than what they deserve. On the bright side, you can work with a Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney to review your case details and determine a fair value for your Tampa personal injury claim.
A Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney will ask certain questions to determine the value of your claim, including:
- What type of injuries did you sustain?
- How severe are your injuries?
- What is the extent of your medical treatment and expenses?
- Will you require long-term, ongoing, or future medical care?
- Do you need rehabilitation or physical therapy?
- Have you missed work due to your injuries?
- How much income have you lost?
- Can you return to work in the same capacity, or is your earning potential diminished due to accident injuries?
- To what extent have you experienced emotional pain and suffering?
- How have your losses affected your quality of life?
- Did you contribute to the accident at all?
While some damages have fixed prices, like medical bills, others are more difficult to assign a numerical value to. For example, how do you put a price on pain and suffering? A Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney has experience with this and can offer their expertise on the matter.
What Damages Can I Seek After Getting Injured in a Tampa Electric Scooter Accident?
Under Florida law, personal injury victims have the right to seek monetary reimbursement for all accident damages. In serious injury cases, you may be eligible to seek economic and non-economic damages. Examples of damages people often suffer in a Tampa scooter accident case include:
- Medical bills
- Future medical expenses
- Emergency room bill
- Lost income
- Reduced earning capacity
- Rehabilitation
- Physical therapy
- Nursing care
- Assistive devices or modifications to the home or car
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Reduced quality of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Emotional and mental anguish
- PTSD
- Anxiety and depression
- Loss of consortium
A Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney will review your case to identify all possible damages you can claim.
Can I Still Recover Damages if I’m Partially at Fault for Causing an Electric Scooter Accident in Tampa?
Even if you are partially responsible for causing the accident, Florida’s comparative fault laws allow injury victims to get compensation. However, your settlement or verdict can be reduced in accordance with your degree of fault. So, if you were 30% responsible for the collision, you can still recover 70% in damages.
What Kind of Injuries Do You Get in a Tampa Electric Scooter Accident?
Similar to bicycles, e-scooters do not offer riders much of a protective barrier. So when a crash happens, the operator can sustain severe injuries. In addition, there’s nothing to break their fall if they get thrust onto the pavement or hit by a car.
Our Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorneys could help you if you sustained any of the following injuries due to a negligent motorist on the road:
- concussion or other traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Broken bones
- Fractured bones
- Nerve damage
- Soft tissue damage
- Organ damage
- Road burn
- Catastrophic injuries
- Bruises and lacerations
- Spinal cord injury
- Crushing injuries
- Amputation
- Paralysis
- Wrongful death
Head injuries are the most frequent injuries in e-scooter accidents. Despite the fact that e-scooters can cause severe head injuries, Florida law does require electric scooter operators to wear helmets unless they go over 30 mph.
Helmets can significantly reduce the risk of sustaining a traumatic brain injury. While everyone knows this, not everyone wears them. You might wonder if you are partially at fault because you weren’t wearing a helmet. The defense may try to make allegations that you contributed to your injuries since you weren’t wearing a helmet. However, you can minimize those allegations and steer the case in your favor.
Top Causes of Tampa Electric Scooter Accidents
Many electric scooter operators are novice operators. With inexperienced scooter operators., crashes are likely to happen. Additionally, the age requirement in Florida to ride an electric scooter is only 16. Therefore, younger electric scooter drivers may not have the same reasoning skills or judgment ability to react in a dangerous situation as an adult would.
Here are some other recurring themes we see causing electric scooter accidents:
- Dangerous behaviors from other motorists on the roads, including:
- Drunk driving
- Distracted driving
- Failure to yield the right of way
- Aggressive or reckless driving
- Dangerous turns
- Driving too close to cyclists, pedestrians, and scooter riders
- Failure to obey traffic laws
- Scooter drivers engaging in dangerous behaviors such as:
- Distracted driving
- Driving electric scooters while drunk or on drugs
- Operating on sidewalks
- Operating in prohibited areas
- Double-riding the scoter
- Parking in unsafe locations (Which could cause a pedestrian to trip and fall)
- Failure to yield
- No bike lanes or designated lanes for scooters and bikes
- Sharing lanes with traffic
- Uneven pavement and potholes cause an abrupt stop
- Reckless turns
- Losing control of the scooter
- Defective scooter parts
Tampa’s infrastructure is not yet designed to provide a safe, designated lane for electric scooters on every road. Therefore, many electric scooter operators run the risk of getting hit by a car while riding. The results of getting hit by a car with no protective barrier or safety gear can be devastating or deadly.
Regardless of how your electric scooter accident occurred, speak with an experienced Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney for sound legal advice. That way, you can hold all liable parties accountable and get your rightful restitution.
Proving Negligence With the Help of a Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney
If a careless driver in Tampa hurt you, you need to prove negligence. It’s not always one driver or person who is at fault. Sometimes a pedestrian, bicyclist, or another driver can share responsibility for causing the accident. In addition, Florida law allows you to seek damage reparation from all liable parties.
In any case, you must provide clear and convincing evidence to demonstrate the other parties’ negligence. Proving negligent requires four main elements:
- The driver had an obligation to drive safely and prevent harming you and others on the road (duty of care)
- The at-fault party did not drive with reasonable caution (breach of duty of care)
- Their negligence caused an accident, which led to your injuries
- You suffered losses due to their negligence
What Evidence Does a Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney Need?
Sometimes proving liability is easy and straightforward. But that’s not always the case. In fact, it’s likely the at-fault parties will try to contest liability or that the electric scooter operator is to blame.
If the other party tried to contest their liability and point fingers at you, we know how to get the right evidence to back up your claim, including:
- Police reports
- Medical records
- CCTV or surveillance camera footage
- Eyewitness testimonies
- Evidence from the accident scene
- Scooter maintenance records
If a defective scooter malfunctioned and caused your accident, you could potentially hold the scooter company responsible. Let a knowledgeable Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney review your case details to identify all liable parties.
Statute of Limitations for a Tampa Electric Scooter Accident
If you wish to recover damages successfully, you must take action within the timeline or statute of limitations. If not, you will forfeit your right to a settlement or financial reimbursement. A Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney can assess your case to determine the deadline for your electric scooter accident claim.
Contact a Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney Today
Every dollar counts when you find yourself racking up medical bills while losing income. This is a terrible position to be in. Luckily, you don’t have to fight this battle alone.
Our Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorneys have the resources, experience, and skill to help you get the highest compensation possible.
We offer a free initial consultation, so call now and get started today with a qualified Tampa Electric Scooter Accident Attorney.
