Electric scooters are all over Augusta, and a lot of them are being used for services like Uber Eats Augusta. This has created a legal mess when it comes to accidents, but that’s about to change. A new law that kicks in on January 1, 2026, completely rewrites the rules for scooter crashes in Georgia, and it’s going to affect everyone on the road.
Key Takeaways
- Starting Jan 1, 2026, Georgia’s new law (O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-372.1) treats some e-scooters like motor vehicles for liability, changing how insurance and fault work in a crash.
- Companies that provide scooters for services like Uber Eats now have more responsibility for keeping their fleets safe and properly insured.
- If you’re hurt in a scooter crash in Augusta, you need to document everything, get checked out at a hospital like Augusta University Medical Center, and talk to a Georgia personal injury lawyer about the new rules.
- The new law cracks down on riding a scooter while intoxicated, with penalties similar to a car DUI, which impacts both your criminal case and any civil claim.
- If you’re hit by someone working for a delivery service, you may now be able to go after the company’s commercial insurance policy, which wasn’t really possible before.
Georgia’s New Micro-Mobility Statute: O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-372.1
As of January 1, 2026, the old legal confusion about electric scooters is over. Georgia’s new law, O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-372.1, tackles their legal status head-on, especially for commercial outfits like Uber Eats. Before this, scooters were in a weird limbo, sometimes they were treated like pedestrians, other times like bikes, which made figuring out fault a nightmare. The new law clears things up by creating a new category: “motorized individual transport devices.” If a scooter’s motor can get it going faster than 20 mph, it falls under this classification and gets treated a lot more like a car for insurance and liability purposes. This completely changes how fault is determined and how you can get paid for your injuries after a crash on a busy Augusta road like Broad Street or near the Augusta Riverwalk.
Who is Affected by the New Legislation?
This new law, O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-372.1, changes things for a lot of people. For starters, electric scooter operators, whether you’re just riding for fun or delivering for Uber Eats, now have more skin in the game. You’re expected to follow traffic laws just like a car, and if you cause an accident, your liability is going to be judged in a similar way, meaning you could be personally on the hook for the damages. Then you have the micro-mobility companies themselves, the ones renting out the scooters or running the delivery apps. They’re getting hit hard by this, as they may now have to carry commercial insurance for their whole fleet, a big shift from the old system that just relied on the rider’s (often non-existent) insurance. Lastly, pedestrians and other motorists who get into a wreck with a scooter will see their options change. Now that scooters are more clearly defined as motor vehicles, it should be easier to file a claim and actually get access to a real insurance policy.
Key Changes in Liability and Insurance Requirements
The biggest change from O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-372.1 is all about liability and insurance. Before this law, if you were hit by a scooter, getting compensated was a long shot. The rider almost never had insurance, and their scooter wasn’t considered a “motor vehicle” so your own policy might not have helped. Now, if the scooter meets that 20+ mph speed threshold, the operator is on the hook based on the same negligence rules that apply to cars. So if an Uber Eats driver on a scooter blows through a red light at Washington Road and I-20 and hits you, they can be held personally responsible. What really matters for victims, though, is that the law is pushing (or in some readings, forcing) commercial operators to insure their fleets. New guidance from the Georgia Department of Insurance suggests they should carry the same minimums as cars: $25k per person, $50k per accident for injuries, and $25k for property damage, just like under O.C.G.A. Section 33-7-11. This is huge for people who were previously left with a pile of medical bills. It also puts pressure on the companies to check on their riders and make sure the scooters are maintained, because it’s their insurance policy that’s at risk.
Steps to Take After an Augusta Scooter Crash
What you do right after an Augusta scooter crash can make or break your case. First things first: check on yourself and anyone else involved and call 911 if there are any injuries. Let the ambulance take you to a hospital like Augusta University Medical Center or Doctors Hospital of Augusta. You have to get the Augusta-Richmond County Police Department on the scene to file an official report. That piece of paper is gold. While you wait, use your phone. Take pictures of everything: the scooter, the other car, your injuries, the road, the traffic lights, get landmarks in there if you’re on a major road like Gordon Highway or Laney-Walker Boulevard. Swap contact and insurance info with the other person and get phone numbers from anyone who saw it happen. Even if you think you’re okay, go get checked out by a doctor. Adrenaline masks a lot of injuries that can show up later. Lastly, and you can’t skip this part under the new law, call a Georgia personal injury lawyer. Trying to figure out O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-372.1 and its impact on insurance claims, especially with a company like Uber Eats in the mix, is not a DIY project. A lawyer will know how to get the right evidence and deal with the insurance adjusters, who are now dealing with new commercial policies they might not have had to pay out on before.
The Role of Negligence in Scooter Accidents
To get paid after a scooter accident, you have to prove negligence. It’s the core of any injury case, and the new law O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-372.1 doesn’t change that. Negligence is just a legal term for someone not being careful enough, which caused your injuries. Think of an Uber Eats driver on Wrightsboro Road texting on their phone and swerving into you, or a car that doesn’t yield when it should have. That’s negligence. But what if you were partly at fault too? Georgia has a “modified comparative negligence” rule (O.C.G.A. Section 51-12-33) that says you can still collect money as long as you’re less than 50% to blame for the accident. Your final payout just gets reduced by whatever percentage of fault is assigned to you. This is why having witness statements and a detailed accident report is so critical, it’s all about proving the other party was *more* at fault than you were. A good legal team will dig into this, sometimes bringing in reconstruction experts to show exactly what happened and why.
Potential Criminal Charges and DUI Laws
Don’t forget about the risk of criminal charges. A big part of this new law is that you can absolutely get a DUI for riding a scooter while drunk. Because some scooters are now classified as “motorized individual transport devices,” the same DUI law that applies to cars (O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-391) can be used against scooter riders. If you’re caught riding with a BAC of 0.08% or higher, or impaired by drugs, you’re looking at the same mess as a car DUI: big fines, losing your driver’s license (yes, your car license), mandatory classes, and maybe jail. This has a huge effect on a personal injury case. If the scooter rider who hit you was drunk, they’re facing a criminal charge, and that DUI is basically slam-dunk evidence of their negligence in your civil claim. It makes it clear that Georgia is trying to get a handle on reckless scooter use on Augusta’s streets.
Working through Claims with Commercial Entities (Uber Eats, etc.)
Going after commercial entities like Uber Eats after a crash is where things get complicated. For years, these companies have hidden behind the “independent contractor” label to avoid liability for accidents caused by their drivers. But O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-372.1, along with some recent court decisions, is starting to poke holes in that defense. If an Uber Eats driver hits you while they’re actually on a job, like heading to a restaurant on Washington Road or dropping off an order in Summerville, you may have a shot at their commercial insurance policy. These are the “third-party liability” policies meant to cover the company when their operations cause harm. The whole case will hinge on proving the driver was “on the clock” for the app when the crash happened, which means digging into their trip data, app logs, and company rules. It’s tough because these companies have armies of lawyers trying to pay out as little as possible. This is why you need your own lawyer who knows how to fight these corporate giants and negotiate with their insurers to get you paid for your medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering.
Georgia’s micro-mobility laws are changing fast, and O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-372.1 is a big part of that. Knowing these new rules and what to do right after a crash can save you a world of trouble. Stay safe, get everything in writing if something happens, and get a lawyer to help you protect your rights.
How does O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-372.1 define an electric scooter for liability purposes?
The law focuses on speed. If a scooter’s motor can push it past 20 miles per hour, it’s considered a “motorized individual transport device.” That means it gets treated more like a car when it comes to liability and insurance after a crash.
If I’m hit by an Uber Eats scooter in Augusta, can I sue Uber directly?
It’s tricky. You can’t always sue Uber itself because of their independent contractor argument. But the new law makes it easier to file a claim against Uber’s commercial insurance, as long as you can prove the driver was actively making a delivery when the accident happened. A lawyer would need to look at the details.
What kind of insurance do I need if I ride an electric scooter in Georgia?
The law doesn’t force individual riders to buy a special scooter insurance policy. But since you’re now liable for accidents like a car driver, you absolutely should have some coverage. Check if your auto or homeowner’s insurance covers it, or look into a specific policy for micro-mobility, especially if you ride a lot.
What if the scooter driver who hit me was underage or unlicensed?
In Georgia, you generally have to be 16 or older to ride these scooters and must follow traffic laws. If an underage driver hits you, that’s strong evidence of negligence. You might also have a claim against the rental company if they didn’t do their job verifying the rider’s age.
How long do I have to file a lawsuit after an Augusta scooter accident?
You have two years. Georgia’s statute of limitations for personal injury (O.C.G.A. Section 9-3-33) is two years from the date you were hurt. Don’t wait, though. You need to talk to a lawyer and start preserving evidence right away.
