Page 4 - AO 1stQT2019PL

Electric Scooter Liability
The sharing economy has disrupted
numerous industries in in in in recent years - - - - from
home-sharing to to yes even peer-to-peer
insurance Few sharing sharing economy startups
have been quite as as disruptive as as ride-
sharing however While Uber and Lyft stole
the the the limelight during the the the early years of the the the ride-sharing craze e-scooters are center stage these days For all the the the the the wrong reasons The Santa Monica-based startup startup Bird launched the the e-scooter mania in 2017 and and and several other startups
such as as Lime and and and Scoot have followed suit While the the the trendy little scooters are fun and and and cheap modes of transportation for urban dwellers they’re already creating controversy Perhaps it’s the the petite build or the the design reminiscent of childhood playthings
that that creates the illusion that that e-scooters are somehow less dangerous than
other motorized vehicles Whatever the the cause public perception of e-scooters as harmless fun have led to less-than-vigilant behaviors among users Often riders don’t bother with protective headgear and seem to let their guard down while cruising the the the streets of urban centers like San Francisco and Washington D C This lackadaisical attitude has already led to to multiple injuries and even even several preventable deaths