Illegal e-scooter rider injured after hitting pothole sues council
Case will have major ramifications
A woman injured while illegally riding an e-scooter is suing Barnet council in London for £30,000 in a case that could have major implications for other councils in the UK.
Giovanna Drago, 22, told central London county court that she broke her left knee two years ago when the electric scooter she was riding hit a pothole in Barnet — an injury from which she took 20 months to fully recover.
Drago (pictured) told the court that because dusk was falling and visibility reduced, she was unable to spot the pothole in time and could not avoid it.
In what is thought to be the first claim of its kind before a judge in Britain, she is suing Barnet council for failing to maintain the road, a claim that lawyers for the council reject.
The court heard how Drago was unaware that she was breaking the law when she took the £580 Xiaomi Mi Pro 2 scooter (the same make and model as that owned by James May) on the road. She had ridden it only twice before the crash.
She had been travelling at a moderate speed and wearing a safety helmet but no knee pads when she went over the handlebars, she said.
“Because it was dark, I couldn’t see the hole,” Drago told the judge Jan Luba KC.
She said she had to wear a brace and use crutches for six weeks and was left with a scar almost five inches long and “clicking, swelling and muscle-wasting” around the knee.
Drago maintains that — despite admitting that she was illegally riding the scooter on a public road — she is entitled to damages.
Lawyers for the council say that Drago should not be compensated from public funds for having been injured in the course of breaking the law and have denied all blame for the incident, insisting that the council had done its best to keep the road safe and clear from hazards.
At present in the UK, an electric scooter can only be used on the public road (but not a footpath or motorway) if it’s hired from an approved company such as Lime, Spin, Voi, Wind or Bird, and covered by the company’s insurance.
While Drago is far from the first person to be injured while riding an electric scooter — in 2021 the Metropolitan Police reported 510 casualties involving e-scooters in London with nine deaths in England, Scotland and Wales last year — if the court rules in her favour, councils around the UK could potentially see a sharp uptick in personal injury claims from illegal e-scooter riders.
At present, car drivers can claim against local councils for damage caused to their vehicles due to poor road maintenance (generally potholes).
How to claim for pothole damage to your car’s suspension, wheels and tyres
A recent study by the insurance firm Insurance Revolution that sent out Freedom of Information requests to city councils (as opposed to councils also covering rural areas) found that, out of the councils that replied to the request, Manchester had the highest number of successful claims in the past year, at 181, amounting to a total pay-out to motorists of £1.06m.
Birmingham was some way behind with 96 successful claims in the last year costing the city £53,938 in pay-outs.
Glasgow had the highest number of rejected claims at 1,240 with just 14 successful claims made against the city council for poor road maintenance in the last 12 months.
Unrepaired potholes usually only cause damage to vehicles and not bodily harm to their drivers. Damage to vehicles is also usually a lot less expensive than damage to life and limb with personal injury claims often running into tens of thousands of pounds (as in the Drago case).
As such, the ruling in the Giovanna Drago case could set a significant and far-reaching precedent when it comes to road maintenance in the UK with previously minor potholes having the potential to represent a dangerous and expensive headache for councils.
The case continues.
Related articles
- After reading about the e-scooter rider suing a local council, you might like to read about the ULEZ being extended to all London boroughs
- Did you know that James May has an electric scooter?
- Or read about the delayed decision on e-scooter legality in the UK
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