It may come as little surprise to Louisianans living in and around Houma, but the electric scooter craze that is sweeping cities both in Louisiana and around the country has its drawbacks. One of those drawbacks is that people riding them, particularly for the first time, tend to get injured.
According to a recent study, for every 100,000 scooter trips people take, 20 people get hurt. While this might not seem like many people, when one thinks of the thousands of scooters trips that may happen in just one city in a given day, it is pretty easy to see that each day several people suffer injuries on an electric scooter in this country.
Many of those injured, about half, suffered some sort of injury to the head. In 15% of the cases studied, the victim suffered some degree of traumatic brain injury. It is also worth pointing out that many riders suffered some sort of other significant injury, like a broken bone, an injury to the nerves, or damage to one’s internal organs. It is true that some of the most serious injuries that were reported could have been prevented, or at least minimized, had the rider been wearing a helmet.
However, these accidents actually happened for a number of reasons, some of which would not be the fault of the scooter’s operator. For instance, improper training may play a role in these accidents, as one out of every three victims surveyed said that they were injured on their first scooter ride. Likewise, almost 20% of those injured said there was something wrong with the scooter itself.
A person injured on one of these devices may have legal options available to him or her. Particularly if he or she is recovering from a brain injury, it may be necessary to explore these options in order to obtain the compensation needed for recovery.