Mobility scooters are motorized scooters that are used for traveling short distances. They may have two, three, or four wheels, and they have brakes on the handles. They are often used by persons with medical conditions or mobility issues. Some shopping and retail establishments, museums, and zoos loan them or rent them for the comfort of their customers.
Mobility scooters may be associated with a number of injury and accident risks, including:
- Collisions with a wall, pole, tree, or other stationary object
- Collisions with pedestrians
- Collisions with patrons inside a store
- Accidents involving collisions with motor vehicles, especially cases where a car is backing up and isn’t looking out for pedestrians or scooters behind
- Accidents and injuries involving electric shock
- Injuries related to fires or explosions (this is often caused by a battery issue)
- Tip-over accidents
- Falls from the scooter
Some of the causes of mobility scooter accidents are:
- Motor vehicle drivers who fail to notice there is a scooter behind them
- Mobility scooter users who misuse the throttle (squeezing instead of releasing)
- Potholes and uneven roads and sidewalks. These can cause tip-overs
Mobility scooter injuries can be serious, and can involve
- Head, neck, or spine injuries
- Broken bones
- Lacerations
- Burns
- Whiplash
- Injuries to other parts of the body
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Mobility Scooter Injury?
Mobility injury scooters can have many different causes. Depending on the situation, different parties can be held liable for a mobility scooter injury.
In cases where a motor vehicle collision is involved, the driver of the automobile could be held responsible. This is especially the case where the driver violated road safety rules (for instance, if they were speeding), or if they were not looking where they were going.
In other instances, a mobility scooter injury may be caused by a defect with the scooter. If the scooter has defective electric components, it may result in a fire that burns the user. Here, the manufacturer of the scooter may be held liable for the plaintiff’s injuries under a defective product legal theory.
What Are the Legal Remedies for a Mobility Scooter Lawsuit?
Mobility scooter injuries can be serious and may require legal action to resolve any disputes.
The most common cause of action is negligence, causing personal injury. Negligence is a legal concept that enables injured people to seek compensation for the carelessness of others. A person is considered negligent if they acted carelessly given the specific circumstances surrounding the situation.
Four essential elements must be demonstrated to establish negligence and recover for injuries:
- The defendant must have owed a duty to the plaintiff. This may be a car driver who owes motor scooter users the duty to look carefully behind them when they back up, to see if there is a pedestrian or a scooter user there. Another example is the duty that motor scooter manufacturers have to sell only safe products
- The defendant must have breached (failed to perform) the duty
- That breach of duty must have been the cause of the injury to the motor scooter user
- The plaintiff must have suffered some kind of injury or damage as a result of the accident
Besides a lawsuit for negligence, there is another cause of action that may be used in a lawsuit involving a mobility scooter accident. This would be a defective product legal theory.
A defective product can be defined as any product that is unreasonably dangerous when being used for its intended purpose, without any alterations or interference. To be more specific, a defective product is a product that causes injury to a person to due either a design defect, a manufacturing defect, or a marketing defect.
Manufacturers, retailers, and sellers of a defective product may be sued for allowing a defective product to reach the consumer.
Finally, a defective mobility scooter may be subject to a recall.
What Types of Damages Are Available for a Mobility Scooter Accidents?
Mobility scooter users who prove that a defendant has inflicted a negligent injury are entitled to compensatory damages. There are two main categories of compensatory damages: general damages and special damages.
General damages are damages which are awarded to the plaintiff to compensate for mental or emotional harm caused by the injury. This includes:
- Pain
- Trauma
- Insomnia
- Depression
- Self-destructive thoughts
- Anxiety or stress
It is hard to determine a specific monetary value for general damages.The judge or jury may award whatever amount they consider appropriate for the case.
In addition to general damages, a mobility scooter user who successfully sues someone for their injury will be awarded special damages. Special damages compensate a plaintiff for the costs of their injury and are meant to put them back in the position they were prior to the accident.
The special damages award covers expenses which resulted from the accident, including:
- Hospital and medical bills
- Loss of wages during the recovery period, and possibly also future wage loss
- Damage to the mobility scooter or other property
- Other financial losses
In cases which involve injuries that were caused intentionally or with extreme negligence (where there was reckless disregard for the safety or lives of others), there may be other damages awarded. This can include punitive damages, which are meant to punish the defendant. If the defendant is a large manufacturer of scooters it may take a lot of money for the manufacturer to be punished. Punitive damage awards can run into thousands, and even millions, of dollars.
On the other hand, in some cases, the plaintiff’s damages award may be limited or reduced if they were partially at fault for the accident. This is called contributory negligence. In some states, if the mobility scooter user was even a little bit at fault, they will not be able to recover any damages at all.
In most states, if the plaintiff was partly at fault, they will still be able to recover a portion of the damages. The jury will assign a percentage of fault to each of the parties, and the plaintiff’s damages will be reduced by the portion of the accident that was their fault. For example, if the dollar amount of the injury was $100,000 and the mobility scooter user was 30% at fault, the mobility scooter user will recover $70,000.
Do I Need a Lawyer for Assistance with a Mobility Scooter Lawsuit?
As is the case with any legal dispute, a matter can quickly become increasingly complicated. Accidents are even more stressful if you are also dealing with medical costs, serious injuries, and/or losing time on your job. You should consider retaining the services of a local personal injury lawyer if you intend to take legal action against another party whose conduct may have been negligent and caused you harm.
An experienced personal injury attorney can analyze whether you have a viable enough claim to file a lawsuit. Your attorney can also assist you in developing a proper legal strategy to recover damages for your injuries, and can serve as your advocate throughout every stage of your case.
Additionally, if your case is successful, your attorney will make sure that you receive the full and fair compensation that you deserve.
