CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Electric scooters continue to grow in popularity despite an uptick in injuries, according to a new report.
With more people using e-scooters to get around, especially in Charlotte's busiest neighborhoods, some people are wondering who's liable for hospital bills if they get injured in a crash or accident.
A WCNC Charlotte viewer contacted VERIFY about this, wanting to find out who's responsible for any medical bills related to e-scooters.
OUR SOURCES
WHAT WE KNOW
Before you hop on a scooter, you need to enter your credit card information and agree to the terms and conditions to take a ride.
Looking at Lime, just one of the companies operating in Charlotte, its user agreement outlines its waivers and release claims stating you agree to assume all risks and accept all responsibility for any accident, injury, property, damage, death, or disability you may suffer on one its scooters.
"The person to gets hurt, in all likelihood, is going to have to pay their own hospital bills if they have hurt someone else while they are riding a scooter," Mauney said. "They would be responsible for the other person's hospital bill."
Mauney said it's hard to go against a waiver you signed.
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"The agreements from the company are frequently upheld by North Carolina courts," Mauney said.
Lime's user agreement also has a provision stating you need to try to settle the dispute first.
"The place you have to go for arbitration is called Triple A, and that means you don’t get a jury trial," Mauney said.
However, Mauney does say there are some exceptions.
"If you are a minor and you are signing this contract, and you are underage, you could make an argument that you cannot consent or if there is some type of defect in the scooter that you were unaware of," Mauney said.
Attorney Jeremy Maddox said people should also be aware of a law in North Carolina called contributory negligence.
"Basically, if you were even 1% at fault for how the incident occurred, you may get nothing," Mauney explained. "So if you're riding an e-scooter in Uptown Charlotte, if you have earbuds in, that could be enough to, you know, for you to be 1% at fault for the wreck."
This is why Maddox said it's important to carefully follow instructions and be sure to read the fine print before hopping on.
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