News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Scooter mechanic, once homeless, says cheap rides now hel... by wavefunction on Monday December 10, 2018 @11:54AM (#18649205)
I assume they would be required to use bike lanes in most American cities. I am concerned about the liability involved. A local journalist here in Austin was hit by a drunk guy on a scooter badly enough to dent her driver-side door and render the door inoperative. Then he claimed she hit him. His auto insurance, if he has any doesn't cover his usage of electric scooters.

So she was facing a liability for fixing the car, perhaps some sort of insurance fraud on his part, AND her insurance was going to list an incidence of her "striking a pedestrian." Fortunately she found out there was some CCTV footage that exonerated her, but all of that just so some drunk a--hole can zoom around on a scooter and the scooter companies make money?

Re:Scooter mechanic, once homeless, says cheap rides now hel... by tick_tock_tick on Monday December 10, 2018 @12:07PM (#18649322)
It sounds like it's the exact same situation as if they owned their own scooter or bike and crashed into the car.
Re:Scooter mechanic, once homeless, says cheap rides now hel... by kinkrtyavimoodh on Monday December 10, 2018 @12:10PM (#18649341)
How does it typically work if I am riding my own bike or scooter and something like this accident happened? Most people don't carry liability insurance for their bicycles, skateboards etc.
Re:Scooter mechanic, once homeless, says cheap rides now hel... by dfxm12 on Monday December 10, 2018 @12:43PM (#18649637)
If you get into an accident, call the cops. If the other party is drunk, they'll definitely make note of it.

If you make a claim and the other party doesn't have insurance (it's unlikely the law requires someone to have liability insurance for their bike) and you need to make a claim, you could be SOL, but that's really a problem with how insurance companies operate.