Scooter accidents can occur for any number of reasons, including distracted drivers, drunk drivers, and people ignoring traffic rules. However, due to their small size and light weight, many scooter accidents occur because of uneven pavement and other surface hazards, like potholes. And given the lack of protection of most scooter riders, the resulting injuries can be quite severe.
If you’ve been hurt from a Porterville pothole while riding your scooter, you may have legal rights that entitle you to compensation for your injuries. But without the help of a scooter accident attorney, you’ll likely face delays, low-ball settlement offers, or defendants that deny responsibility. This is why it’s important to contact Maison Law to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation. You can learn what legal options you have and what you need to do to receive reasonable compensation for your injuries.
Why Potholes Lead to Scooter Accidents in Porterville
If a scooter rider encounters a pothole, it can result in:
- Loss of traction: Depending on its size, a scooter wheel hitting a pothole can create a temporary loss of traction between the wheel and the road’s surface. This can make stopping or turning more difficult, increasing the chances of an accident.
- Loss of balance: The jolt the scooter and its rider experience when a scooter hits a pothole can lead to the rider losing their balance. This can force the rider to fall off their scooter or take evasive action. Taking evasive action could result in the scooter veering into traffic, causing a major accident.
- The rider getting thrown off their scooter: In some cases, the scooter rider is able to use their brakes to stop before hitting the pothole. But depending on their speed and how quickly they stop, this can lead to the rider getting thrown off their scooter as their body’s momentum continues even though the scooter has stopped moving.
Who’s Liable for Injuries Caused by a Pothole?
If a pothole in Porterville leads to a scooter accident, there’s a reasonable chance that there will be multiple parties responsible for the scooter rider’s injuries. This number can rise if other vehicles or pedestrians are involved in the accident and played a role in causing it. Below is a list of entities that could potentially be liable for your injuries in a scooter accident caused by a pothole:
- City of Porterville
- County of Tulare
- State of California
- Private property owners
- Other drivers or users of the road or sidewalk where the pothole was located
- Road construction company
- Road maintenance company
Traffic Laws for Scooter Riders in Porterville
Under Section 21200 of the California Vehicle Code (VEH), scooter riders have many of the same legal duties to obey traffic rules like other drivers of public roads. However, when it comes to using scooters on sidewalks, California allows localities such as Porterville the authority to create their own ordinances. Porterville is unique in that is allows scooters on pedestrian sidewalks in most locations, with exceptions for government and business areas of the city.
Steps To Take After Getting Hurt in a Scooter Accident
The first thing you need to do after getting into a scooter accident is seek medical attention. Even if your injuries are minor, you still want to see a medical professional to confirm there’s nothing else serious going on. It’s common for seemingly “small” injuries to feel like they’re no big deal, but if left untreated, they can result in serious, long-term health problems.
Once you get checked out by a doctor and start recuperating, it’s time to start thinking about your legal rights and your ability to recover financial compensation. The best way to protect yourself is to:
- Report the accident to the police. This will most likely take place automatically if anyone is hurt in the accident, as you or someone else will dial 9-1-1. But even if there are no apparent injuries, you may still want to contact the police to get an accident report.
- Report the accident to the property owner. If the pothole was located on private property, such as a parking lot, you should report your accident to the owner. Doing this can prove helpful later on if you wish to file a premises liability claim against the property owner.
- Gather evidence from the accident scene. If you’re able, take videos and photos of the pothole and where the accident occurred. If there were witnesses, get their names, contact information, and an overview of what they saw. Also see if there were any traffic or security cameras that got footage of your accident.
- Report the pothole to the City of Porterville: Porterville has a special app that allows residents to report problems around the city, including things that need to be repaired. Alternatively, you can send an email to fs-dept@ci.porterville.ca.us or call(559) 782-7514.
Recoverable Damages After a Scooter Accident Caused by a Pothole
Depending on what caused the pothole accident and the extent of your injuries, you may be eligible for compensation for one or more of the following damages:
- Economic damages: These are intended to provide compensation for financial damages originating from the scooter accident. This covers things like unpaid medical bills, lost wages, and property repair or replacement costs.
- Non-economic damages: These also compensate you for your losses, but for subjective and difficult-to-calculate losses such as pain and suffering, severe stress and anxiety, emotional distress, and loss of consortium.
- Punitive damages: Unlike other types of damages, punitive damages don’t compensate; they punish. Specifically, they’re designed to punish at-fault parties for particularly egregious or abhorrent conduct. They’re also intended to deter others from similar conduct in the future.
Determining the Value of a Scooter Pothole Accident Case
It’s practically impossible to calculate an exact value of a personal injury case, especially one caused by a pothole. There are so many variables about the accident, as well as characteristics about the parties that can affect how much a case is worth. Some of these include:
- Extent of your medical treatments.
- The cost of your scooter.
- Whether you missed work because of your injuries and if so, how much income you lost.
- Whether you have any close family members, like a spouse, that were affected by your injuries.
- How much psychological harm you suffered from the accident.
- If your injuries were particularly gruesome or painful.
- Whether the accident left you with any permanent injuries or scars.
- The size of applicable insurance policy limits.
- The at-fault party’s aversion to litigation risk.
- Whether the cause of the accident is in dispute.
- What role you had, if any, in causing the accident.
Comparative Negligence in California
Because California is a pure comparative negligence state, any fault you had in causing your accident can be used to reduce your recovery. But before you start to worry, understand that as long as you’re not 100% at fault (which is highly unlikely if your scooter accident was caused by a pothole), you should at least be able to obtain some financial recovery for your injuries. Let’s examine a hypothetical to illustrate.
Let’s say you should receive $100,000 for your injuries. However, a court believes you were 50% at fault for your accident because you were driving your scooter too fast for conditions and looking at your phone when your scooter hit the pothole. Instead of receiving $100,000, you’ll receive $50,000 ($100,000 x 50% = $50,000; $100,000 – $50,000 = $50,000).
Now imagine how the numbers change if a court believes you were only 40% at fault. That relatively small change leads to a $10,000 difference such that you receive $60,000 instead of $50,000. This is why it’s so important to talk to a personal injury lawyer about your case.
Contact a Porterville Scooter Accident Attorney
If you suffered injuries from a scooter accident in Portersville due to a pothole, you probably deserve some compensation for what happened. But how much compensation and how you go about getting it depends on the facts of your case and whether you have the help of a personal injury lawyer such as one from Maison Law.
Our litigation attorneys have years of experience dealing with insurance companies, local governments, and property owners in order to get the most compensation for our clients. To see what we can do for you, contact us to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.
