Illegal e-scooter rider loses £30,000 injury claim in first UK court case of its type
City councils around the country breathe sigh of relief – for now
Giovanna Drago, thought to be the first electric scooter (‘e-scooter’) rider to bring a case to court and sue a city council for failing to maintain a road and cause injury, has lost her £30,000 claim for damages against Barnet council in London.
Drago, 22, told the judge Jan Luba KC — presiding over Central London county court — that she broke her left leg after her e-scooter hit a large pothole on the road in Barnet in 2020 and she fell off.
Though the knee brace and crutches she used after the accident were only required for six weeks, Drago claims that she was left with a scar almost five inches long and “clicking, swelling and muscle-wasting” around the knee from which it took her nearly two years to recover.
“Because it was dark, I couldn’t see the hole,” Drago told the judge, while she also claims to have been travelling at a moderate speed.
Though Drago referred to the “large and dangerous” hole in the road and presented a photograph of a pothole to the court, the judge rejected the £30,000 claim for damages on the basis that there was no evidence that the pothole in the picture was the one that caused the injury.
During the three-day trial, lawyers for the borough of Barnet gave evidence that local authority staff did their job to keep the road clear of hazards and safe for users. They also argued that Drago should not be compensated as she was breaking the law by using her own e-scooter on the public road.
The law states that an e-scooter can only be used on the public road if it’s hired from an approved company and covered by the company’s insurance. Some of those companies are Lime, Spin, Voi, Wind and Bird, though renters must not use the e-scooters on footpaths or the motorway.
Using an e-scooter that has not been hired from an approved company on the public road is illegal and riders could face a fine and penalty points on their driving licence (which they must have to rent an e-scooter, incidentally). The scooter may also be impounded, though there is very little evidence that this is happening widely.
Drago claims to have been unaware that she was breaking the law by riding her e-scooter on the road as she had only recently purchased it, a Xiaomi Mi Pro 2 valued at £580.
In line with the increase in e-scooter riding throughout the UK, there has been a marked increase in the number of casualties associated with their use.
The government released provisional data for the year ending June 2022 revealing 1,437 casualties across the UK in collisions involving e-scooters, compared to 1,033 in the year ending June 2021.
Twelve of those were fatalities (eleven of whom were the e-scooter riders) compared with four in the previous year.
These figures were presented as a likely underestimate due to incomplete data from some regions and non-reporting of many incidents.
The rental schemes operating in 31 regions across England are part of an extended trial to assess the usefulness and safety of e-scooters in the public realm. The scheme began in mid-2020, but was delayed getting underway due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has since been extended and is expected to be followed up by new legislation to reclassify e-scooters to allow their widespread use. For that reason, councils will have watched the Giovanna Drago vs. Barnet case with interest for fears that it could open the floodgates of litigation against them.
The result may not have eased their fears as, with evidence of the crash, Drago may well have succeeded in her £30,000 personal injury claim.
Related articles
- After reading about the e-scooter rider losing her case against Barnet 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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