JUMP Scooter Lawyer

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JUMP Scooter Lawyer

Nearly everyone knows about Uber, the ride-hailing service where people can use their own vehicles to act as taxis for pedestrians in major cities. However, not everyone is aware that Uber’s parent company has entered the electric scooter market with the JUMP scooter. Adding more e-scooters to the already-crowded streets of U.S. cities carries both risks and advantages.

The JUMP scooter operates similarly to existing electric scooters. Other scooter companies had challenges in getting people to download and install the proprietary app, but JUMP had the advantage of leveraging the existing Uber app, which was already being used fifteen million times every day. Uber customers were already accustomed to paying a small fee for transportation, and so they were poised to accept even cheaper transportation by scooter.

Proponents argue that adding more options to the electric scooter market will reduce vehicle traffic and help with gridlock. Fewer passenger vehicles on the road mean fewer accidents. However, detractors say that the scooters often clog sidewalks and force pedestrians out of the way. Additional, unconscientious riders will ride the scooters in major roadways, hurting traffic flow and potentially causing even more accidents. 

One of the challenges JUMP scooter lawyers from Cohen & Cohen face in handling the rise of electric scooter accidents is determining who is at fault after a collision. In some jurisdictions, a JUMP scooter is classified as a Personal Mobility Device just like a Segway or similar machine, and can be ridden on sidewalks. In these cities, the law makes no distinction between a rider on a JUMP scooter and a pedestrian, which gives the rider legal advantages as long as they were following the same rules a pedestrian would be required to follow.

In other cities, however, a JUMP scooter is classified similarly to bicycles, and must be operated in bicycle lanes. Riding a JUMP scooter on the sidewalks may be illegal and can subject the rider to penalties in an accident involving pedestrians. Additionally, crossing a crosswalk with pedestrians under these circumstances can prevent a rider from claiming damages if struck by a turning vehicle.

Finally, other jurisdictions treat any motorized vehicle with two inline wheels as a motorcycle or moped, requiring riders to stay off sidewalks and on public streets. Under these circumstances, it may be seriously hazardous to use JUMP scooters, since they cannot match the speed of ordinary passenger vehicles. Rather than leaving all these elements up to chance, riders should talk to a local JUMP scooter lawyer to determine what they should and shouldn’t do to prevent accidents, avoid liability, and protect their rights.