Why ambulance chasers might become scooter chasers

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- I am not a skittish person. I ski black diamonds. I've been sky diving. I love a good roller coaster. I walk alone at night, and talk to strangers, both which go against my mother's advice.

But I am not sure I'll be getting back on an electric shared scooter any time soon.

This is the new urban mobility future, all the mobility future people tell us, the ultimate last-mile solution to pollution and traffic congestion, with thrills to match.

And yet, when I scootered down Pico Boulevard here, I could practically feel the ambulance chasers following me down the road. Because man, did that thing feel unsafe.

I wasn't planning on taking a scooter. I am in town for the Los Angeles Auto Show, and stepped outside of my hotel to make a quick stop at the store. I was going to hail a Lyft, but then an icon popped up on the app saying there was a scooter nearby. I looked up from my phone, and there it was on the sidewalk in front of the hotel.

A couple of minutes later I found myself hurtling down Pico Boulevard in rush-hour traffic. Was I wearing a helmet, as the Lyft app suggested? Of course not. I don't usually pack a helmet in my carry-on luggage.

A car startled me with a honk, and I reacted by rolling up onto the sidewalk, heading straight toward a crowd of people waiting for a bus. I rolled back into the street, and then back onto the sidewalk in fear, a few times, before realizing this was a stupid way to die. I ended my trip after six minutes, paying $2.09 to go about a half-mile.

Scooters used to be children's playthings. This should be easy, right?

Not so. In Salt Lake City, emergency room visits are up 161 percent from scooter accidents since dockless scooters hit the streets in June. Patients showed up with fractured wrists and broken arms, dislocated elbows and shoulders, and some serious head injuries.

Luckily, the personal-injury lawyers are already on the case. Last month, a law firm here in Santa Monica filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against several scooter operators, and one thing we can probably expect from the new urban mobility future is a few more of those lawsuits.