Hit while riding an electric scooter in Fresno, CA? Contact the top Fresno electric scooter accident lawyer to seek justice and compensation.
If you were injured on a Bird or Lime scooter, or a scooter rider struck you while you were walking, you are likely facing medical bills, lost wages, and pain that makes even ordinary tasks difficult. Figuring out who is responsible is rarely simple. Whether the crash involved a distracted driver, a defective scooter, or a road hazard the city ignored, you will ultimately be negotiating with the rental company’s insurer or the at-fault driver’s insurer, and both are looking for reasons to pay you less.
At Kuzyk Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, our attorneys understand what makes e-scooter claims different from a typical car accident case. We know how to challenge the liability-limiting language buried in Bird and Lime’s rental app terms, how to identify which of several possible insurers, the rider’s own policy, the rental company’s coverage, or a driver’s liability insurer, actually owes you money, and how to preserve GPS trip data and security footage before it disappears within days. With more than 50 years of experience serving Fresno and the Central Valley, we build the kind of case that holds up when insurers push back.
Get a free case evaluation & consultation and discover how our electric scooter accident attorneys in Fresno can help you seek the compensation and justice you deserve.
Why Scooter Cases Are Harder Than Car Accidents
A car accident typically involves two drivers and two insurers. An e-scooter crash can involve the rider’s personal coverage, a rental company’s policy, a driver’s liability insurer, and sometimes the City of Fresno, and every one of them will try to push responsibility onto the others.
Rental agreements from Bird and Lime contain language written specifically to limit their liability. GPS trip data from the scooter, evidence that can prove exactly where you were and what happened, can be deleted within days. These cases move fast, and so do we.
What to Do After an Electric Scooter Crash
The decisions you make right after the crash protect both your health and your legal rights.
Get Medical Care First
See a doctor the same day, even if your injuries seem minor. Head trauma and internal injuries don’t always appear right away. Your medical records also form the foundation of your case.
“Right after the accident, you’re usually pretty juiced up on adrenaline. You’re not feeling anything, you’re worried about your car, or getting to work on time. The full effects of an injury aren’t always immediate.” – Mark Anderson
Preserve Evidence Before It Disappears
Act quickly, critical evidence can be gone within hours.
- Screenshot your rental trip: Capture your active session details and the scooter’s QR code or serial number before the app closes the trip.
- Look for nearby cameras: Businesses along Shaw Avenue, Blackstone Avenue, and near Fresno State may have security cameras that capture the street, so try to preserve any footage as soon as possible.
- Photograph the scene: Your injuries, the scooter, the vehicle involved, and any road damage or hazards.
Report the Accident, Then Stop Talking
File a police report and notify the scooter company through their app. After that, say nothing to the other party’s insurer without legal advice first. Adjusters are trained to capture early statements and use your words to reduce what they pay.
“Little, seemingly harmless statements people give to insurance companies can torpedo a case.” – Mark Anderson
Who Pays After a Fresno E-Scooter Crash?
Liability depends on how the crash happened, and multiple parties can share responsibility. Every insurer’s goal is to shift the blame and reduce their exposure.
| Scenario | Likely Primary Insurer | Common Complications |
| Car hits scooter rider | At-fault driver’s auto policy | Disputed fault, lowball early offers |
| Scooter hits pedestrian | Rider’s homeowners or renters policy | Rider may be uninsured |
| Scooter equipment failure | Rental company or manufacturer | Proving the defect caused the crash |
| Hit-and-run driver | Your own UM/UIM coverage | Must carry UM/UIM, strict reporting deadlines |
| City road hazard | City or County of Fresno | Six-month government claim deadline applies |
Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is a protection built into your own auto policy that pays when the driver who hit you carries no insurance, or not enough of it. Many people don’t know it can also apply when they are riding a scooter or walking.
Bird and Lime’s user agreements include arbitration clauses designed to limit your right to sue. We challenge those terms when their negligent maintenance or defective equipment caused your injury.
“Insurance companies want to hold onto their money as long as they can, and as much of it as they can.” – Mark Anderson
What we see across the e-scooter claims we handle in Fresno is that adjusters representing Bird, Lime, or an at-fault driver almost always open with a low number before medical records are complete, hoping riders settle before a follow-up visit at Community Regional Medical Center reveals the full extent of a soft tissue or head injury. A tactic we watch for repeatedly is an adjuster asking a rider to sign a broad medical authorization within days of the crash, long before anyone knows whether the injury will resolve in weeks or require months of physical therapy. We don’t let clients sign away that leverage until we know what the claim is actually worth.
What California Law Says About Electric Scooters
California treats electric scooters as motor vehicles with specific obligations for riders:
- A valid driver’s license or instruction permit is needed to operate one.
- You must ride in the street or a marked bike lane. Riding on the sidewalk isn’t allowed, except briefly to enter or leave a property along your route.
- The speed limit is 15 mph, and you can’t ride on a street with a posted speed limit above 25 mph unless there’s a marked Class II or Class IV bikeway.
- Helmets are required only for riders under 18.
If a driver cut off your right-of-way, ran a red light, or opened a car door into your path, California law places liability on them.
What if You Weren’t Wearing a Helmet?
Helmets are legally required only for riders under 18. If you were older and riding without one, that does not end your case.
California is a pure comparative negligence state, meaning you can still recover compensation even if you were partially at fault. Your award is reduced by your share of fault, nothing more. Insurers will absolutely raise the helmet argument. We push back.
Common Causes of Scooter Accidents in Fresno
Fresno’s busiest corridors, including Blackstone Avenue, Shaw Avenue, the Tower District, and the Fulton Street area, create real hazards for scooter riders and pedestrians every day.
- Distracted drivers: Inattentive drivers are the most frequent cause of scooter crashes. A moment of distraction at 30 mph is enough.
- Dooring: A parked driver opens their door directly into a rider’s path with no warning and no time to stop.
- Road defects: Potholes and cracked pavement can send a rider to the ground. The city can be held liable when it knew, or should have known, about the hazard.
- Failure to yield: Drivers frequently fail to treat scooters as vehicles at intersections and crosswalks.
- Defective equipment: Rental scooters with faulty brakes, drained batteries, or unstable steering put riders in danger they never anticipated.
One pattern we consistently see in scooter crash claims along Blackstone Avenue and through the Tower District is that drivers pulling out of parking lots or making right turns rarely check for riders in the bike lane, and nearby business camera footage is often the only way to prove what actually happened before the rental app’s trip data expires. In our experience handling these claims out of Fresno County Superior Court, the fight almost never centers on whether the crash happened, it centers on whether the rider was riding legally at the moment of impact. That’s why we push to lock down video and rental data within the first 72 hours, before it’s gone for good.
Injuries We See in Scooter Crashes
Scooters offer nothing between you and the road. Even moderate-speed impacts cause serious, lasting harm.
We handle cases involving traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), spinal cord damage, broken wrists and collarbones, severe road rash, facial fractures, and internal injuries. The severity of your injury directly shapes the value of your claim, which is why we work with your treatment team from day one.
Across the scooter injury claims we’ve handled out of Fresno, one pattern holds steady: riders treated first at Saint Agnes Medical Center or Clovis Community Medical Center for road rash and wrist fractures often don’t feel the full weight of a head injury until a week or two later, once the adrenaline wears off and a lingering headache won’t go away. Insurers routinely seize on that gap between the crash and the follow-up diagnosis to argue the injury isn’t related to the accident. We build the medical record early specifically to close that gap before it becomes the adjuster’s excuse to undervalue the claim.
What Compensation You Can Recover
California law lets you pursue full compensation for the financial and personal impact of the crash.
- Medical expenses: Current hospital bills, future surgeries, physical therapy, and assistive devices you may need long-term.
- Lost income: Wages missed during recovery and, where injuries are permanent, reduced future earning capacity.
- Pain and suffering: The physical pain and emotional toll of your injury and the road to recovery.
- Disfigurement: Compensation for permanent scarring or loss of function.
Insurers move fast with early offers, and those offers are almost always low.
We rejected a low initial offer and negotiated a substantially larger settlement on the client’s behalf. What began as a $56,000 offer resulted in a $2,800,000 recovery after we prepared for trial. That gap between what they offer and what you deserve is exactly why we exist.
How We Protect Your Net Recovery
A large settlement number means very little if medical liens, opaque fee structures, or predatory legal lending quietly drain most of it. Our approach is built around what you actually keep.
- Lien negotiation: We work directly with medical providers to reduce the amounts they claim against your settlement.
- Fee transparency: Our disbursement sheet itemizes every deduction, no surprises at closing.
- No predatory lending: We do not steer clients toward high-interest lawsuit loans that erode a recovery while a case is pending.
Winning matters. But what you keep matters more.
What We Do in the First 72 Hours
The moment you hire us, we move on the evidence before it disappears:
- Send preservation letters to the scooter company and nearby businesses with security cameras
- Request police reports and available traffic camera footage
- Identify every insurance policy that may apply to your claim
- Coordinate your medical care so treatment is properly documented from the start
What Does It Cost to Hire Us?
Nothing upfront. We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning we only get paid if we recover money for you. Our fee is a percentage of your settlement or verdict, never an out-of-pocket cost.
How Long Do You Have to File in California?
Most personal injury claims carry a two-year deadline from the date of the accident. However, if a government entity like the City of Fresno is responsible for a dangerous road condition, you have only six months to file a formal government claim. Miss that deadline and you permanently lose the right to pursue them.
Fresno Hospitals, Courts, and Roads We Know
We work regularly with providers at Community Regional Medical Center and Saint Agnes Medical Center. We file in Fresno County Superior Court and know the local docket. We know which intersections along Blackstone and through the Tower District produce the most crashes, and how to use that knowledge to build your case.
This is not a remote practice.
We work here. Every day.
Fresno Electric Scooter Accident FAQ
Do Rental App Terms Block a Bird or Lime Claim?
No. Bird and Lime’s user agreements include liability-limiting language, but those terms can be challenged, especially when defective equipment or poor maintenance played a role in your injury.
Can a Pedestrian Hit by a Scooter File a Claim?
Yes. If a scooter rider struck you on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk, you can file a personal injury claim against them, and their homeowners or renters insurance may cover your losses.
Does My Own Auto Insurance Cover Me on a Scooter?
In many cases, yes, your UM/UIM coverage can apply when you are hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver while on a scooter. We review every applicable policy in our initial evaluation at no cost.
Can I File a Claim Against the City of Fresno for a Road Hazard?
Yes, but the timeline is strict. Claims against a government entity require a formal notice within six months of the accident, far shorter than the standard personal injury window.
How Quickly Can Scooter App Data and Security Video Disappear?
Rental app GPS data and nearby security footage can be automatically deleted within 48 to 72 hours. We send evidence preservation letters the same day we take your case.
Call Kuzyk Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers Today
We represent scooter accident victims throughout Fresno, providing experienced legal advocacy and pursuing full compensation on their behalf. Free consultation. No upfront costs. Available 24/7 in English and Spanish.
Precise. Prepared. Built to protect what you keep.
For Spanish-language service, visit espanol.kuzyklaw.com.