If a rental scooter rider hit you while you were walking on Ventura Boulevard, the rider is personally responsible for your injuries, and the claim is usually paid by the rider’s homeowners or renters liability insurance, if they have it. The scooter company is a harder target: its user agreement puts the risk on the rider and generally requires arbitration, though a defective scooter or a fleet left blocking a sidewalk can bring the company in. If you were the rider and a car hit you, the claim is against the driver’s auto insurance, and your own auto policy’s uninsured motorist coverage may apply as well.
The rules that govern these devices are specific and mostly favor the pedestrian. Vehicle Code 21235 bars scooters from sidewalks, requires a driver’s license or permit, requires a helmet under 18 and allows no passengers, and Vehicle Code 22411 caps speed at 15 miles per hour. The City of Los Angeles adds an age floor of 18 for shared scooters. This guide explains those rules, who can be liable in Studio City, Sherman Oaks and Encino, how to identify a rider who kept going, and the deadlines.
The rules a scooter rider has to follow
California treats a motorized scooter as its own category. Vehicle Code 407.5 defines it as a two-wheeled device with handlebars, a floorboard to stand on, and an electric motor. Under Vehicle Code 21221, the rider has the rights and duties of the driver of a vehicle, including the DUI laws. Vehicle Code 21224(a) exempts scooters from the financial responsibility, registration and plate rules, so no insurance is required to ride one, and Vehicle Code 407.5(c) requires manufacturers to warn buyers in bold print that their insurance policies may not cover scooter accidents.
Vehicle Code 21235 lists what a rider may not do.
- Ride on a sidewalk, except to enter or leave adjacent property.
- Ride without a valid driver’s license or instruction permit.
- Ride without a helmet if under 18, under the standards in Vehicle Code 21212.
- Carry a passenger.
- Ride on a road with a speed limit over 25 miles per hour outside a Class II or Class IV bike lane, unless the city has authorized it on roads up to 35.
- Leave the scooter on its side on a sidewalk, or park it so pedestrians do not have an adequate path.
Speed is capped at 15 miles per hour by Vehicle Code 22411, and Vehicle Code 21223 requires a white headlamp, red rear reflector and side reflectors during darkness. Since an amendment to Vehicle Code 21235 took effect on January 1, 2019, adult riders have not been required to wear helmets.
The City of Los Angeles layers its own rules on shared fleets through LADOT’s dockless mobility permit program, adopted under Los Angeles Municipal Code 71.29. Riders must be 18 or older with a valid California driver’s license, only one person may ride, and the scooters themselves must be incapable of exceeding 15 miles per hour. Operators must display “No Riding On Sidewalks” signage on every scooter and show an in-app notice that sidewalk riding is prohibited. LADOT’s published fine for sidewalk riding is $197. Abandoned or broken scooters can be reported through MyLA311, and operators must respond within two hours between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
What the UCLA data shows
Two UCLA studies describe the injuries these crashes cause. A 2019 study in JAMA Network Open reviewed 249 patients treated at two UCLA emergency departments for scooter injuries over one year ending in August 2018. About 4 percent were wearing helmets, 40 percent had head injuries, 32 percent had fractures, and 8 percent were not riders at all, including pedestrians struck by scooters. A 2022 study in PLOS One searched clinical notes across UCLA Health’s clinics, emergency departments and urgent care centers from 2014 through May 2020 and found 1,354 people injured, with 595 injuries in 2018 and 672 in 2019, against at most 13 a year before shared fleets spread in 2018. The authors estimated an injury rate of 115 per million scooter trips in UCLA Health’s Westside service area, and 33 percent of patients needed care beyond a single visit.
Who can be liable when a pedestrian is hit
The rider
A rider who hits a pedestrian on a sidewalk was violating Vehicle Code 21235(g) and, if under 18 or unlicensed, other subdivisions too. Under California’s negligence per se doctrine, a violation of a safety statute that causes the kind of harm the statute was written to prevent is presumed to be negligence. A rider going 15 miles per hour on the sidewalk in front of the shops on Ventura Boulevard near Laurel Canyon is close to the textbook case. The rider’s personal liability coverage under a homeowners, renters or condo policy is the usual source of payment. Not every rider has such a policy, which is why identifying the rider quickly and checking for coverage comes first.
A driver
The rider is often the injured person. A scooter rider in a bike lane on Ventura Boulevard who is hit by a car turning into a driveway or parking lot has an ordinary claim against the driver’s liability insurance, with the same $30,000 per person minimum that Vehicle Code 16056 sets for policies issued or renewed since January 1, 2025. A rider’s own violation, such as no helmet under 18 or riding on a road with a 35 mile-per-hour limit outside a bike lane, reduces the recovery by the rider’s share of fault under Li v. Yellow Cab (1975) but does not bar it. If the driver fled or has no insurance, the rider’s own auto policy, or a resident relative’s, may provide uninsured motorist coverage, though policies vary on whether a motorized scooter is excluded.
The scooter company
Every shared scooter ride starts with a user agreement. Those agreements generally state that the rider assumes the risks of riding, releases the company from claims, and agrees to resolve disputes in individual arbitration rather than in court. For a rider hurt by a defective brake or a scooter that shut off mid-ride, that clause shapes where the claim is heard. A pedestrian never signed the agreement and is not bound by it. A pedestrian’s claim against the company usually rests on the fleet, such as a scooter left across a sidewalk that caused a fall, or on evidence that the company let a rider onto the platform without the license and age the LADOT permit requires riders to have.
The city
Ventura Boulevard is a City of Los Angeles street. If a pothole, a lifted section of sidewalk, a missing bike lane marking or a broken signal contributed to the crash, Government Code 835 makes a public entity liable for a dangerous condition of its property when it had notice and time to fix it. That claim has a hard deadline. Government Code 911.2 requires a written claim to be presented to the city within six months of the injury, before any lawsuit, and the deadline is not extended for minors. Our post on the six-month government claim deadline explains the form and the process.
How to identify a rider who kept going
Scooter riders rarely carry identification a pedestrian can read, and many ride off after a collision. The rider can still be found.
- Call 911 and get an LAPD report. Studio City falls under the North Hollywood Division, Sherman Oaks under the Van Nuys Division and Encino under the West Valley Division. The report documents the time, the location, the scooter’s brand and any identifying number on the deck.
- Photograph the scooter before it is moved, including the QR code or unit number on the stem. That number ties the scooter to a specific trip in the operator’s records.
- Note the exact time. Shared scooter operators keep trip records tied to a rider’s account, which the LADOT permit requires to be backed by a driver’s license, generally including start and end points and GPS data, and a subpoena for the trip active on that unit at that minute can identify the rider.
- Ask the businesses on the block for video. The storefronts along Ventura Boulevard between Laurel Canyon and Coldwater Canyon, and the shopping centers near Sepulveda and Ventura, generally have cameras facing the sidewalk, and most footage overwrites within days.
- Get witness names and numbers before people leave.
- Report the incident to the operator through the app or its website, which creates a record on their side as well.
LADOT’s permit program also exchanges vehicle data with operators through a shared data standard. A lawyer’s request to the operator, backed by a subpoena once a case is filed, is the usual route to a rider’s identity; the LAPD report and the unit number make that request precise.
The first days after a scooter collision
Get medical care the same day, at Providence Tarzana for the Encino end of the boulevard or the nearest emergency department, and tell the provider you were struck by a scooter rider or hit while riding one. A same-day record ties the injury to the collision. Keep anything that was damaged, and do not give a recorded statement to any insurance company before you have advice. If you were the pedestrian, your own health insurance pays the initial bills and is usually repaid from any recovery. If you were the rider, medical payments coverage on your auto policy, if you have it, may pay regardless of fault.
Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 allows two years to file against a rider, a driver or a company, and Code of Civil Procedure 352 pauses that period for a minor until 18, but neither extends the six-month government claim. If arbitration under a user agreement applies, the agreement may set its own procedures and notice periods, so it should be read early.
How Manoukian Law Firm handles these cases
The work in the first two weeks is identification and preservation: the LAPD report, the unit number, the trip records request, the storefront video and the government claim if the road played a part. Then the medical documentation follows treatment, and the claim is presented to whichever policy responds. Every case is prepared as if it will be tried. The firm represents injured people throughout California from its Chatsworth office, in English, Spanish and Armenian, and our scooter accident page and pedestrian accident page describe the process. Local information is on our Studio City, Sherman Oaks and Encino pages.
Key points
- Vehicle Code 21235 bars motorized scooters from sidewalks, requires a license or permit and a helmet under 18, and allows no passengers; Vehicle Code 22411 caps speed at 15 miles per hour.
- LADOT’s shared scooter permit requires riders to be 18 with a California license, and the fine for sidewalk riding is $197.
- A rider who hits a pedestrian is personally liable, usually through homeowners or renters coverage; the company’s user agreement does not bind the pedestrian.
- A rider hit by a car has a claim against the driver’s auto insurance, reduced by any share of fault but not barred.
- A road defect claim against the City of Los Angeles requires a written claim within six months under Government Code 911.2.
- The unit number, the exact time and the LAPD report are what let a subpoena to the operator identify a rider who left.
Frequently asked questions
Does it matter that the rider was on the sidewalk?
Yes. Sidewalk riding violates Vehicle Code 21235(g) and LADOT’s permit rules, and a violation of a safety statute that causes the harm it was written to prevent is presumed to be negligence. It is the strongest fact in a pedestrian’s claim.
Can I sue the scooter company directly?
A pedestrian can bring a claim against the company for its own conduct, such as a scooter left blocking a sidewalk or letting an unlicensed rider onto the platform, and is not bound by the rider’s user agreement. A rider’s own claim against the company is usually subject to the agreement’s arbitration clause.
I was riding and a car hit me. Does my auto insurance apply?
Possibly. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage under Insurance Code 11580.2 often follows the named insureds whether they are in a car, on foot or on a bicycle, but some policies exclude motorized devices the insured owns or is operating. The declarations page and the policy definitions have to be read, and a rental scooter is treated differently from one you own.
The rider was a teenager. Are the parents responsible?
Not automatically. A motorized scooter is not a motor vehicle for financial responsibility purposes under Vehicle Code 21224(a), so the parental liability that applies to teen drivers does not transfer by statute. Parents can be liable for their own negligence in allowing an underage or unlicensed child to ride, and the family’s homeowners policy may still cover the child’s negligence.
If you were hit by a scooter rider, or hit by a car while riding, on Ventura Boulevard or anywhere in California, call Manoukian Law Firm at (818) 818-5031 or reach us through our contact page. Consultations are free and there is no fee unless we recover for you.
