Transportation

Anatomy of an Electric Scooter Crash

The rise of the rented e-scooter has also brought safety fears and injury-related lawsuits. What happens when a new mobility mode meets the American legal system?
How safe are electric scooters, and who gets blamed when something goes wrong?Madison McVeigh/CityLab

Grace heard a gasp, then the line went dead.

It was a freezing night—my hands were numb, my toes icy—but I’d wanted to call her, my college roommate, on the way home from work, so I took a scooter instead of a subway. I figured I could jam my wireless headphones in, talk, and ride. Before you ask: No, I was not wearing a helmet, and yes, it was winter-dark at 7 o’clock.