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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A terrifying electric scooter crash is caught on camera. A man is launched into the air after colliding with a pickup truck leaving a downtown Indy parking garage, but there is a catch, he was riding on the forbidden sidewalk.
According to the city scooter ordinance, scooters are not allowed on sidewalks, but the rider, William “Mac” Brown, and his attorneys say the ordinance doesn’t matter in this situation.
It happened on Meridian St. near the heart of downtown. Brown was riding the scooter just a day after they returned to the city in early September. He was traveling down meridian when the driver of a red pickup truck pulled out of the Denison Parking Garage and struck him.
Brown suffered injuries to his skull and brain.
“I was heading back to work, and next thing I know I don’t remember anything until being in the hospital,” Brown said.
Brown and his lawyers, Ralph Staples and Jeff Mendes, are planning to sue for damages. They believe the driver was going too fast out of the garage, and not paying attention. The entry of the Denison Parking Garage does have a blind spot mirror and traffic attendant.
“That’s why they put this guy in the street to tell people come on or stop,” Staples said.
“Our position is technically, and legally, he did nothing wrong,” Mendes said. “The driver has the duty to stop look both ways.”
Mendes and Staples also argue the ordinance doesn’t apply because he was struck in the entry of the garage, not on a sidewalk. They believe, even if Brown was a jogger, he still would have been hit.
“That mirror is there to determine what is around that corner!” Staples said.
As of now, the trio is not sure whether they will seek damages against the driver, the parking garage, or the traffic attendant.
IMPD will start issuing fines to people riding scooters on the sidewalk.
They originally set an “education period” to teach the public before issuing punishment, but that phase is now over. Riders will be fined $20 for riding on the sidewalk and $40 if they fail to pay.
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