If a driver hit you while you were riding an electric bike or a scooter, you have a personal injury claim against that driver just as a cyclist or pedestrian would. The driver’s liability insurance pays for your medical bills, lost income and pain and suffering up to the policy limit. If the driver had little or no insurance, your own auto policy’s uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage usually applies to you while you are on an e-bike or a stand-up scooter, which surprises a lot of riders.
The issue that decides these cases is the rules of the road for the device you were on. A class 1 or class 2 e-bike is treated as a bicycle: you can ride in the bike lane, you can use most paths, and a driver turning across your lane owes you the right of way. A motorized scooter has its own rules, including a ban on sidewalk riding and a 15 mile an hour limit. A throttle-only e-bike with no pedals is legally a moped or motorcycle, which changes licensing and sometimes insurance. The insurer will try to fit your device into whichever category puts you at fault. Knowing which rules applied to you on the day of the crash is the first thing a lawyer sorts out.
Can I sue if a car hit me on my e-bike or scooter?
Yes. A driver who fails to yield, turns across your path, opens a door into you or passes too closely is liable for your injuries. You bring the claim against the driver’s auto insurance and, if that coverage is inadequate, against your own auto policy’s uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Where you were riding and whether you followed the device’s rules can affect your percentage of fault under California comparative negligence, but they do not take away the claim.
Which rules applied to you
California defines electric bicycles in Vehicle Code 312.5. Class 1 and class 2 e-bikes assist up to 20 miles an hour and are treated as bicycles. Class 3 assist up to 28, require a helmet for every rider, and cannot be used on some bike paths. A device that goes faster than 28 or has no functioning pedals is not an e-bike at all; it is a moped or motor-driven cycle and needs a license and registration.
Motorized scooters, the stand-up kind including rental scooters, fall under Vehicle Code 21235 and the sections around it. Riders must have a driver’s license or permit, cannot ride on the sidewalk, cannot exceed 15 miles an hour, must use a bike lane where one exists, and riders under 18 must wear a helmet.
Why this matters: a driver’s insurer will argue that you were on the sidewalk, that you were going faster than allowed, or that your throttle bike was an unregistered motorcycle, and will assign you a chunk of fault on that basis. Some of those arguments carry weight. Most of them do not change the fact that the driver turned left across a bike lane without looking.
The crashes we see most
Left cross. A driver on Devonshire turns left in front of an e-bike going straight in the bike lane. The driver “never saw” the bike. The bike had the right of way; fault sits mostly with the driver.
Right hook. A driver on Ventura Boulevard passes a scooter and then turns right into a parking lot across the rider’s path. Same analysis.
Dooring. A parked driver opens a door into the bike lane. The Vehicle Code puts that squarely on the person opening the door.
Sidewalk conflict. A scooter rider on the sidewalk is hit by a car pulling out of a driveway. Here the insurer has a real argument, because scooters are not allowed on sidewalks, but the driver still had to look before crossing the sidewalk. These cases usually end with fault divided.
Where the money comes from
The driver’s policy comes first. Many Los Angeles drivers carry the state minimum of $30,000 per person, which does not cover a surgery. The second source, and often the larger one, is your own auto insurance. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage follows you as a person, not your car, so it generally applies when you are hit by a car while on a bike, an e-bike or a scooter. If you do not own a car, a policy held by a relative you live with may apply. Rental scooter companies carry limited coverage that rarely helps the rider in a collision with a car.
Your health insurance pays the bills in the meantime and takes reimbursement from the settlement, which the attorney negotiates down. If you have no health coverage, treatment on a lien basis with providers in the Valley is available while the claim is pending.
What to do now
Call the police and get a report, even for a crash that seems minor; many scooter and e-bike riders are more hurt than they realize because adrenaline masks it. Photograph the car, the plate, the driver’s license and insurance card, and the road. Keep the bike or scooter and the helmet as they are. Do not repair the bike. Get checked at an urgent care or ER the same day and follow up with a doctor. Do not talk to the driver’s insurer on a recorded line before you have advice.
Common mistakes
Riding away from the scene. Accepting cash from the driver. Repairing or throwing away the bike before it is photographed. Telling the insurer you “didn’t see the car either.” Not reporting the crash to your own auto insurer, which many UM policies require within a set time. And assuming your own policy does not apply because you were not in your car.
Questions people ask next
Does not wearing a helmet hurt my case? Only if the helmet was required for your device and age, and only for head injuries it would have reduced. It does not affect a broken collarbone or a knee injury.
What if the driver fled? Report the hit and run promptly. Your uninsured motorist coverage treats a hit and run as an uninsured driver, provided you meet the policy’s reporting requirements.
Can I claim if I was on a rental scooter? Yes, against the driver and your own auto policy. The rental company’s user agreement limits what it owes you but does not limit the driver’s responsibility.
Manoukian Law Firm handles bicycle, e-bike and scooter injury cases across the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles County, and the attorney handles each one personally, including tracking down the uninsured motorist coverage most riders do not know they have. If a driver hit you while you were riding, call (818) 818-5031 for a free consultation.
