While electric rental scooters have become much more common sights in recent years across urban areas, motor scooters with seats and more powerful engines are also increasingly widely used. Unfortunately, motor vehicle drivers can be just as irresponsible around VESPAs, mopeds, and similar machines as they are around bicycles and motorcycles.
In many ways, filing suit over VESPA/motor scooter accidents in Hershey works similarly to suing over any other type of accident involving a collision between moving vehicles. However, there are a few unique aspects to cases like this that you’ll need to be prepared for if you want a good shot at getting a fair financial recovery. Help from a seasoned motorcycle accident attorney can be key to making those preparations and increasing your chances of a favorable case result.
Are Motor Scooters Legally Different from Motorcycles?
In legal terms, motor scooters and mopeds exist in something of a gray area between bicycles and motorcycles. Depending on how powerful your machine’s engine is, whether it’s pedal-operated, whether it has a seat attached to it, and what its top speed is, you may have different licensing and registration requirements, and you may have different rules applicable to you about whether you can take the scooter on public highways.
No matter what type of motor scooter or moped you’re riding, you have a “duty of care” under Pennsylvania law requiring you to act responsibly and safely around other people, and anyone driving another type of vehicle owes you the exact same duty. When someone collides with your motor scooter or otherwise causes you to get hurt in a wreck in Hershey by breaching that duty, you’d likely have grounds to file suit against them for your losses.
Getting Paid Fairly for All Your Damages
Proving someone else was directly at fault for your Hershey VESPA crash isn’t enough to get you a big settlement or court award for injuries you suffered in that crash. You’ll also need to prove the wreck was the main and direct cause of specific compensable losses that can be addressed through financial compensation. Examples of losses that could potentially be factored into a claim of this nature include:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional and psychological trauma
- Loss of life’s pleasures
- Medical expenses, including expected costs of long-term treatment like physical therapy
- Lost work wages or working ability
- Personal property damage, including costs of repairing or replacing your damaged scooter
Fortunately, the limited tort rules that can sometimes prevent motor vehicle drivers from filing suit after wrecks don’t apply to people who got hurt while riding motor scooters, mopeds, or anything else with a motor that isn’t a standard commuter car.
Talk to a Hershey Attorney About a VESPA/Motor Scooter Accident Claim
No one deserves to get hurt in a crash they didn’t cause, and certainly not because a reckless or careless driver didn’t see them while they were riding a motor scooter. If you’ve found yourself in this situation, you have help available from well-known legal counsel with a track record of getting great case results from accidents just like yours.
Speaking with a winning lawyer should be a top priority after VESPA/motor scooter accidents in Hershey. Call Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers today to learn more.
