"Hit and run" from electric bikes - who will compensate the pedestrians?

A 70-year-old was run over and killed by an unknown rider, a 10-year-old was left disabled.

The compensation?

0 shekels.

Victims of electric bike accidents are promiscuous in the field, and it is time for regulated legislation on the subject

Adv. Assaf Warsaw

12/06/2022

Sunday, June 12, 2022, 1:22 p.m.

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Thursday about two weeks ago.

A mother and a 10-year-old girl enter the office, measuring her gait and appearing to be suffering greatly.

A brief inquiry reveals that just two days ago, she was released from the hospital after being hospitalized for over a month, during which she also underwent a number of surgeries.

The future in her case does not bode well: the nature of the injury and its severity predict that she will be left with a permanent disability, with a motor disability.

It is also possible that in light of the head injury, she will suffer from impaired cognitive development and mental skills.

Bottom line, she will probably have a hard time fitting into the employment circle and developing a normative life.

The problem is that instead of receiving monetary compensation that reflects the depth of her injury, she will be left with nothing.

why?

She, too, like many other casualties, was involved in a hit-and-run accident during which an electric bicycle rider hit a pedestrian, but instead of stopping according to his legal duty, extending assistance as far as his hand touches and waiting for a police car to arrive - he fled, leaving the girl sprawled On the Ground.

This, for example, also happened in Jaffa when a four-year-old boy received a severe blow to the head from an electric bicycle hit the promenade.

Police are investigating a suspected hit-and-run accident, after the rider fled the scene.

In another recently reported case, a 70-year-old was run over and killed as a result of an injury by an anonymous cyclist.

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In the absence of legislation regarding the electric bicycle, the victim is abandoned to his fate (Photo: ShutterStock, ShutterStock)

Hit and run - the phenomenon is much broader than the public is familiar with

Adv. Assaf Warsaw (Photo: PR)

In general, the hit-and-run phenomenon as a whole is much broader than you think, but only deaths or serious injuries reach the public consciousness.

According to data from the Israel Police, every year there are dozens of cases in which motorized vehicles hit pedestrians and leave them covered in blood.

The point is that unlike a car injury, because then Karnit enters the picture and compensates the injured party, when it comes to a bicycle injury or an electric scooter - the victim is forced to finance out of his own pocket the economic consequences of the accident.

This absurd reality also exists in light of the ruling of the Supreme Court, which ruled that "bicycles with an auxiliary motor" as defined in the Transport Regulations, which are electric bicycles, do not meet the definition of "motor vehicle" in the Compensation Law.

According to the ruling, a road accident between a "motor vehicle" and an electric bicycle is considered a "road accident".

This means that an electric cyclist is legally a pedestrian and therefore the cyclist will be entitled to compensation from the vehicle's insurance company.

On the other hand, an accident between a pedestrian and an electric bicycle is not subject to the Compensation Law, and the injured pedestrian has the usual tort route at his disposal.

That is, the pedestrian will have to file a lawsuit against the cyclist and prove that he was liable to him and that she was violated following the negligence of the electric cyclist and that as a result of the violation the pedestrian was injured and harmed.

And what about the case in which the rider escaped?

If the victim purchased coverage in advance for loss of ability to work or personal accidents - he will be able to earn a few shekels, but if otherwise and assuming that it is not a work accident - he will be left financially naked, abandoned to his fate.

The solution to this complication can only come through legislation.

The Fund for Compensation for Road Accident Victims Below - Karnit is a public corporation established by virtue of the Compensation for Road Accident Victims Law.

In fact, she enters the picture only in case of hit and run or the offending driver has no insurance.

The problem is that its liability applies only to motor vehicle casualties.

Electric bicycles and scooters - are not included in this definition.

Therefore, the law should be amended so that pedestrians injured in such circumstances will not find themselves dealing alone with life in the shadow of the injury.

• Of money

Tags

• Electric Bicycle

• Hit and run