The electric scooter business is booming in cities around the country as scooter-share companies seek to reinvent the way adults get around town. But this emerging form of transportation that has left regulation miles behind also presents some interesting insurance issues.

“If you are approaching renting an electric scooter like you would a car, you are probably going to be in trouble,” said Jason Hargraves, managing editor of InsuranceQuotes.com in Austin, Texas. 

And not just because there are no seatbelts. “You may think your auto insurance policy carries with you like it would if you rented a car. But if you rent a scooter, it won’t carry over,” said Mr. Hargraves.

E-scooter sharing programs operate like bike sharing programs, but smartphones and GPS technology have eliminated the need for docking stations.

In a dockless system, riders simply leave the scooter wherever they happen to be at the end of a ride. People who need a scooter use the company’s app along with GPS chips to find out where they are.

The scooter, as a technology, also has reached Pittsburgh in recent months. Scoobi, an on-demand scooter share company launched an operation here in July with 100 electric scooters for rental throughout the East End, Downtown, North Shore and South Side. Scoobi announced recently it would move its Pittsburgh fleet to a southern location for the winter.

Not everyone is keen on seeing sidewalks littered with parked scooters. Several cities — such as Indianapolis and Milwaukee — have created regulations that either restrict or ban them until they can modify laws and roads to make them safer.

But the insurance industry also is faced with questions concerning e-scooter innovation.

More accidents involving e-scooters are occurring as more people make the switch to street scooters as their primary means of transportation. The question comes up concerning what happens if the driver of an e-scooter injures a pedestrian, causes damage or gets injured?

“You are unlikely to get any compensation from your own auto insurance policy in any circumstance,” said James Lynch, chief actuary at the Insurance Information Institute in New York. “The typical auto policy doesn’t cover two-wheel vehicles.

“Your health insurance policy will cover all of your injuries, regardless of who is at fault, but of course you would be responsible for deductibles, co-pays and the like.”

Typically, homeowners have personal liability coverage under a homeowners insurance policy even if they injure someone off their property. But there are some twists and turns on the motorized scooter front that could make the answer to who is liable more complicated depending on the circumstances.

“If you are riding a bike or an old-fashioned push-propelled scooter and found liable, your homeowners policy will in all likelihood cover you,” Mr. Lynch said. 

“However, liability coverage with a motorized scooter can be tricky, because the typical homeowners policy considers a self-propelled vehicle to be a motor vehicle and homeowners insurance excludes motor vehicles.”

Electric kick scooters have generally surpassed gas-powered scooters in popularity since 2000, but information on how many electric scooters are on the road now versus then is not available.

Motorized bikes that travel faster than 30 mph are classified as motorcycles, which requires operators to have a separate motorcycle driver’s license and liability insurance.

E-scooter drivers are not required to have liability insurance. But a lot of damage can occur at 15 mph and people concerned about protecting themselves from financial drain and legal consequences are able to purchase it.

“You can get liability insurance on an electric scooter,” Mr. Hargraves said. “But you have to go through the motions, talking to an insurance agent and getting them to write a policy that would be similar to a motorcycle policy.”

Based on an informal survey of Pittsburgh insurance agents, few customers have been requesting information about obtaining coverage for e-scooters.

The good news: Companies that offer electric scooter ride-sharing service are required to have liability coverage even though regulation is behind in controlling them. 

“In the process of renting an electric scooter, they usually ask you to sign all your rights away if you hurt yourself,” Mr. Hargraves said. “But the company generally assumes liability if the driver hits someone else.”

Tim Grant: tgrant@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1591

First Published: November 26, 2018, 1:30 p.m.