Germany is moving to close a legal loophole that has left e-scooter accident victims unable to claim compensation, making rental firms such as Lime and Bolt directly liable for crashes involving their vehicles.
The proposed bill would also cover accidents caused by scooters left blocking pavements. Under the new rules, operators would face strict liability as owners regardless of fault, while riders would be presumed at fault unless they can prove otherwise.
By contrast, the current rules require accident victims to show the rider was to blame, a standard often impossible to meet when the rider cannot even be identified. The new law would make claiming compensation considerably easier.
The economic benefits of these services are largely enjoyed by fleet operators as the vehicle holders, the German Federal Ministry for Justice and Consumer Protection said in its justification for the bill. It therefore appears logical, the ministry added, that whoever benefits from an activity should also bear the risk it creates.
The measure would apply to e-scooters and some self-balancing vehicles, but not to e-bikes. The German government argues that the existing rules no longer reflect how quickly e-scooters have spread across the country’s streets.
Rising concern over e-scooter accidents across Europe
The number of insured e-scooters more than quintupled, climbing from 180,000 in 2020 to 990,000 in 2023, according to the German Insurance Association.
Third-party damage claims rose from 1,150 in 2020 to 5,000 in 2024. Rental scooters made up roughly one-fifth of insured e-scooters in 2023 but accounted for about 40% of those claims, the association said.
Beyond collisions and pavement obstructions, authorities have also warned that the lithium-ion batteries in e-scooters can cause serious fires when damaged, faulty or charged incorrectly.
Safety and public-space concerns have already prompted several European cities to pull shared e-scooters. Paris ended rental services in 2023 following a public vote, while Madrid withdrew operators’ licences in 2024 over failures to control riding and parking. Prague removed shared e-scooters from its streets in January 2026, and Brussels plans to do the same in January 2027.
