Today’s column continues where last week’s left off regarding legal responsibility for injuries caused by hazardously placed Bird, LimeBike and/or Spin electric scooters. Today, I will first discuss new legislation designed to reduce the risks these scooters present and next address responsibility for injuries caused when motorized scooters are driven on the sidewalk.
Tricia P. from South of Market asks: “I came out of my apartment front door and tripped over a Bird scooter and fell face first. I was able to catch myself on a nearby tree and wasn’t seriously injured but I could have broken my arm. Just a few days earlier someone was riding one of the green scooters and almost clipped me as I exited Starbucks. What gives? Who would be responsible if I had been smashed into or if I fell and broke my wrist?”
This week’s article is the second in my series on current and proposed regulation for autonomous and robot vehicles (AV). As I outlined last week, several agencies are moving forward with regulations — or in the case of the Federal Government, guidelines — designed to deal with this emerging technology, which is moving faster than the ability to regulate it. Let’s look at why this is so dangerous.