Revel Scooters Accidents and Fatalities on the rise in NYC
A Revel scooter operator ran down and killed an Upper West Side senior last month. According to the NYPD, an 82 woman was crossing W. 60th Street at the dangerous intersection with Broadway at around 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 29 when she was slammed into by the 23-year-old electric motorcycle rider, whose name was not released. The crash knocked Schnitker down to the pavement, leaving her with head trauma. EMTs took her to Mt. Sinai Morningside Hospital in Harlem where she died later that day, police reported.
The Revel operator remained at the scene and was not initially charged. A police spokesman did not say if the moped operator was speeding or ran a red light, saying only that the investigation is ongoing. While the scooter operator may not be criminally charged, our New York City wrongful death lawyers know that scooter operators are required to follow the same rules of the road as cara LLC and trucks. Our NYC pedestrian accident lawyers know that the most common reason that a car, scooter or truck hits a pedestrian is that they are not looking where they are going. New York Vehicle and traffic law 1146 requires that all vehicle operators including revel scooters and electric bikes, exercise due care to avoid hitting a pedestrian. So while the scooter operator may not be criminally charged, he is still civilly liable for the wrongful death of the pedestrian. If you were a pedestrian that was hit by a scooter, car or truck in New York City our NYC pedestrian accident lawyers can help. Our NYC accident lawyers have decades of experience in representing the families of those who have suffered fatalities and in pursuing wrongful death lawsuits to hold those responsible for the deaths civilly responsible.
It’s the latest fatal crash involving a Revel machine — and it is believed to be the first since late July, when the moped company pulled all its e-motorbikes from the streets after three deaths, all of which involved operators or passengers on the Revel moped itself. CBS2 reporter that a you g woman died while she was a passenger on a Revel on July 18. A few days later, another young man died after he crashed his Revel into a light pole in Queens. A third man, had crashed a Revel on July 25, but did not die until a week later.
The city is stepping in and realizing that Revel needs to take a break, step back, take a look at their practices in terms of safety, and figure out if this is something that can make their product safer for New Yorkers
Driver error is not the only cause of the latest wave of scooter crashes that have resulted in fatalities, rather product defects have been raised as a contributing factor. Revel deployed its electric-powered mopeds to city streets in May 2019, ushering in a new wave of ride-sharing in an industry dominated by car services like Uber and Lyft, especially the food delivery services. Since then, at least a dozen lawsuits have been filed against the company over injuries and scooter malfunctions. Our New York product liability lawyers who sue manufacturers for dangerous products know that on a motor bike which is already dangerous, a manufacturing defect can dramatically increase the danger and likelihood of an accident. In other words when a bike or scooter does not perform as its operator expects, that dramatically increased the likelihood of an accident in a situation where any accident is likely to result in serious personal injuries or even a fatality. Earlier this summer, Revel said it was suspending more than 1,000 riders for not wearing helmets, riding on sidewalks and other rules violations over the previous 30 days. Another major reason to worry about Revel scooters in NYC : Many Revel riders still won't wear helmets.
For more information about personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits arising out of scooter accidents, contact our New York City Persian injury lawyers.