Austin Electric Scooter Accident Attorney

Austin introduced dockless scooters in 2018, and Bird and Lime are the two companies the city currently permits to operate. A CDC study conducted in Austin found that nearly half of 190 injured e-scooter riders sustained severe injuries, and a third were hurt on their very first ride. Austin-Travis County EMS recorded 169 scooter-related accidents in a single fiscal year, concentrated downtown and during late-night weekend hours.

Scooter accidents happen to riders, pedestrians, and cyclists, and the party responsible for your injuries isn’t always the scooter operator. Loewy Law Firm represents anyone injured in an electric scooter accident in Austin. Call (512) 280-0800 any time, day or night, or text Loewy Law Firm directly at (512) 779-3547.

Do I Have a Case?

A personal injury case requires proving four elements of negligence: that the at-fault party owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty, that the breach caused your injury, and that your injury produced measurable damages. In a scooter accident, those elements can point to a driver, a rental company, a scooter manufacturer, the City of Austin, or more than one party.

Duty of Care

Every driver on Austin roads owes a duty of reasonable care to scooter riders, cyclists, and pedestrians. Bird and Lime owe a duty to maintain their fleets in safe operating condition. Austin owes a duty to maintain its roads and bike lanes. A scooter rider owes a duty to anyone sharing the road or sidewalk.

Breach

Breach is where the facts of your accident live. A driver who ran a red light breaches their duty. Bird or Lime breaches theirs when a scooter with documented brake problems stays in service. Austin breaches its duty when a known pothole in a bike lane goes unrepaired. A scooter rider breaches theirs when they rode at speed through a crowded sidewalk.

Causation

Your attorney needs to connect the breach directly to your injury. If a defective scooter brake failed and you hit a car, causation runs from the defect to the accident to your injuries. If a driver ran a stop sign and struck you, the causation chain is straightforward. Multi-party accidents require mapping each party’s breach to its contribution to the outcome.

Damages

Damages are the measurable losses your injury produced — medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, permanent disability, and future costs. Loewy Law Firm works with medical experts, economic experts, and life care planners to document the full extent of your damages, not just what’s on the current hospital bill.

After the Accident: Take the Right Steps

What you do in the hours after a scooter accident has a direct effect on what can be proven and what you can recover by way of compensation.

1. Call 911 — get a police report filed that documents the parties, the conditions, and any traffic violations at the scene.
2. Photograph everything — the scooter, the scene, road hazards, and your injuries before anything is moved.
3. Note the scooter’s ID number — and which company’s scooter was involved.
4. Get medical attention — even if you feel fine, head trauma and internal injuries can take hours or longer to present.
5. Collect witness information — names and contact details from anyone who saw the accident.
6. Do not give a recorded statement — to any insurance company before speaking with an attorney. Adjusters ask questions designed to establish partial fault or minimize injury severity.
7. Keep all damaged property — a cracked helmet, torn clothing, and broken personal items are all potential evidence.
8. Stay off social media — photos and posts about the accident can be taken out of context and used against you.

How to Choose the Right Accident Lawyer

Scooter accident cases get built differently than standard car accident cases, and the attorney you choose needs experience with the specific defendants involved. Scooter cases can run against individual drivers, large out-of-state rental companies like Bird and Lime, scooter manufacturers, and government entities, sometimes all in the same case. An attorney who primarily handles standard car accidents may not have experience building cases against corporate defendants who use liability waivers as a first line of defense.

When evaluating attorneys, ask:

• Have you handled cases against Bird or Lime specifically?
• Do you have experience with product liability cases tied to vehicle defects?
• Do you handle cases against government entities and understand Texas notice requirements?
• Will the attorney handling my case be directly accessible throughout the process?

Direct access to your attorney affects how your case gets handled from start to finish. At Loewy Law Firm, Adam Loewy is personally reachable by phone or text throughout your case — not just through a paralegal or case manager. Adam has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer for nine consecutive years and has won millions of dollars for injured Austinites since founding the firm in 2005.

How Loewy Law Firm Builds Winning Cases

Evidence Preservation

Both Bird and Lime maintain maintenance logs, repair records, and GPS usage data that can establish whether a scooter was defective or had been flagged for repair before your accident. Loewy Law Firm issues preservation demands immediately when we take a scooter case to protect that evidence before it becomes unavailable.

Investigating All Liable Parties

Texas’s modified comparative fault rule means that every party’s percentage of fault affects how damages get allocated. Identifying a second or third liable party, a rental company alongside a negligent driver, for example, can significantly increase the total compensation available to you. Loewy Law Firm investigates every potential source of liability from the start.

Expert Witnesses

Serious scooter accident cases require expert testimony. A medical expert documents the full extent of your injuries and projects future treatment costs. An accident reconstructionist establishes how the accident occurred when physical evidence or witness accounts are disputed. A vocational expert calculates lost earning capacity when your injuries affect your ability to work long-term. Loewy Law Firm retains the experts your specific case requires.

Trial Preparation From the Start

Insurance companies and corporate defendants evaluate whether the attorney on the other side is genuinely prepared to take a case to trial, and that evaluation affects what they’re willing to offer. Loewy Law Firm builds every case as if it’s going to trial, and that preparation produces better results at every stage, including settlement.

Working With Our Firm and the Case Process

Here’s what to expect from the time you contact Loewy Law Firm through resolution of your case.

Free Consultation

Your first conversation with Loewy Law Firm costs nothing. Adam will evaluate your case, explain your options, and tell you honestly whether pursuing a case makes sense. You can call (512) 280-0800 any time or text directly at (512) 779-3547.

Investigation and Case Building

Once we take your case, we begin the investigation immediately — preserving evidence, obtaining the accident report, issuing spoliation letters to Bird or Lime, and identifying all potentially liable parties.

Demand and Negotiation

After your medical treatment reaches a stable point and the full extent of your damages is documented, Loewy Law Firm prepares a demand package and enters negotiations with the insurance companies and defendants. Most cases resolve at this stage, and Adam will give you an honest assessment of any offer before you decide whether to accept it.

Litigation

If a settlement that reflects your full damages isn’t achievable through negotiation, Loewy Law Firm takes the case to court. Adam is a trial-tested personal injury attorney who has litigated cases through verdict in Travis County and across Texas.

No Fees Unless We Win

Loewy Law Firm handles every scooter accident case on a contingency basis. You pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you.

Unique Factors in Electric Scooter Accident Cases

Liability Waivers

Bird and Lime require every rider to agree to a liability waiver before unlocking a scooter. Both companies use those waivers to deny responsibility when accidents happen. A waiver does not automatically prevent recovery when the rental company’s own negligence caused the injury — and if Bird or Lime kept a defective scooter in service, their maintenance failures are their liability regardless of what the waiver says.

No Helmet, No Case? Not Necessarily.

Austin requires riders 18 and under to wear a helmet. Adult riders are strongly advised to wear one, but no state law mandates it for adults. Insurance companies raise helmet use as a shared fault argument in head injury cases, and they will argue that you assumed the risk of your injuries by not wearing one. Loewy Law Firm addresses that argument directly in how the case gets built rather than leaving it unanswered.

Road Conditions and Municipal Liability

Since scooters sit much lower to the ground than bicycles they are far more sensitive to pavement irregularities. A road hazard that a car driver wouldn’t notice can throw a scooter rider at full speed. When road conditions contributed to your accident, the City of Austin may share liability.

Multiple Defendants, One Accident

A scooter accident can produce liability against a driver, a rental company, a manufacturer, and a government entity simultaneously. Each defendant will typically try to assign as much fault as possible to the others, which is why identifying and pursuing all liable parties from the start is the only way to recover full compensation.

Compensation That May Be Available

Our attorneys pursue the full range of damages available under Texas law, which in a scooter accident case may include:

• Past and future medical expenses, including emergency care, surgery, and rehabilitation
• Lost wages from the time of injury through recovery
• Lost earning capacity if your injuries permanently affect your ability to work
• Pain and suffering
• Permanent disability or disfigurement
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium for your spouse or partner
• Punitive damages in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct

Two Texas Laws That Can Impact Your Case

When to File: The Statute of Limitations

Scooter accident cases based on negligence are subject to a two-year statute of limitations under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. The two-year period begins on the date of the accident, and cases filed after that deadline are usually dismissed.

One important exception: cases against the City of Austin or other government entities require written notice under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 101.101 within six months of the accident — a deadline separate from and shorter than the two-year filing deadline, and missing it bars recovery against the government entity even if the lawsuit is filed within two years.

When Fault Is Shared: Comparative Negligence

Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001 governs how fault gets allocated when more than one party contributed to an accident. Under Texas’s modified comparative fault rule, if you are found to be more than 50 percent responsible for your injuries, you cannot recover damages. If your fault is 50 percent or less, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault.

In scooter accident cases, defense attorneys and insurance companies will scrutinize your conduct — whether you were riding in a permitted area, whether you were wearing a helmet, whether alcohol was a factor, and how you were operating at the time of the accident. Loewy Law Firm builds the evidence to establish the other party’s fault and counter the arguments designed to reduce your recovery.

Factors Leading to Scooter Accidents in Austin

Downtown Concentration and Late-Night Hours

Austin’s downtown core accounts for the majority of the city’s scooter accidents, with 6th Street and the entertainment districts generating the highest concentration of injuries. According to Austin-Travis County EMS fiscal year 2023 data reported by FOX 7 Austin (fox7austin.com) and KVUE (kvue.com), late-night weekend hours account for a disproportionate share of reported injuries.

Alcohol and Impaired Riders

When a scooter rider who had been drinking hits you as a pedestrian or cyclist, alcohol use becomes direct evidence of negligence in your case. Dr. Jayson Aydelotte, trauma medical director at Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin, told KXAN in 2023 that 95 percent of scooter riders admitted to his hospital with traumatic injuries had been drinking, which reflects how common impaired riding is in Austin’s downtown entertainment districts.

Road Conditions

According to the CDC’s Austin scooter injury study, half of injured riders reported that a surface condition — a pothole, a crack in the pavement, or a road irregularity — contributed to their accident.

Loewy Law Firm has represented injured Austinites since 2005, and Austin’s specific traffic conditions, street layout, and scooter regulations are part of how we evaluate and build every case.

Frequently Asked Questions

A scooter was left blocking a sidewalk and I tripped over it — can I hold Bird or Lime responsible?

Possibly. Bird and Lime are required to comply with Austin’s scooter parking regulations, which prohibit scooters from blocking pedestrian access. If a scooter was improperly parked in a way that violated city rules and caused your injury, the rental company’s failure to enforce parking compliance is relevant to a possible negligence case against them. Premises liability principles may also apply depending on where the scooter was left.

I was a passenger on a scooter and got hurt — do I have a case?

Yes. Passengers injured on scooters have the same right to pursue compensation as riders injured on their own. Depending on how the accident occurred, liability may run to the operator of the scooter you were on, another driver, the rental company, or the manufacturer.

The driver who hit me didn’t have insurance — can I still recover?

Your own auto insurance policy may provide coverage through uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, even for accidents that occurred while you were on a scooter. Texas law requires insurance companies to offer uninsured motorist coverage, though drivers can reject it in writing. Loewy Law Firm reviews all available insurance coverage at the start of every case, including your own policy, to identify every potential source of recovery.

I was injured on a scooter while making a delivery for work — does that affect my case?

It can. If you were working as an employee at the time of the accident, workers’ compensation may apply alongside a personal injury case against the at-fault party. If you were working as an independent contractor for a delivery app, the analysis is different and depends on the specifics of your work arrangement. Loewy Law Firm evaluates both avenues when work-related circumstances are part of the accident.

My accident was caught on a business security camera nearby — how do I get that footage?

Security camera footage can be overwritten on short cycles, frequently within 24 to 72 hours. Loewy Law Firm sends preservation letters to nearby businesses immediately when we take a case, before that footage is gone. If you contact us the same day as your accident, there is a significantly better chance of securing that evidence.

Get the Compensation You Deserve After a Scooter Accident

Loewy Law Firm has represented injured Austinites since 2005, and Adam Loewy has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer for nine consecutive years. Adam keeps a smaller caseload than most personal injury attorneys so that every client gets his direct attention — and he can always be reached by text message at (512) 779-3547.

If you were injured in a scooter accident in Austin, call (512) 280-0800 24/7. Consultations are always free, and you pay nothing unless we win your case.