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More hang-ups on Chicago’s bike sharing program: apparently no one can agree on who will be responsible if someone gets hurt.
"It's all about lawyers. That's the only hang-up," Daley told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this month."Who takes the legal liability--is it the biker, is it the company or the city? The city has deep pockets. That's what you worry about. That's what the hang-up is. That's the only issue."
Meanwhile, SmartBike, newly launched this month in Washington D.C., is trying to encourage ridership by not requiring program members to wear helmets.
For other international bike-sharing news, this blog is a great source of info. [S-T, image via the noggin nogged]
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How do they do it in Copenhagen with their free bikes? The rider should take responsibility.
Wouldn't it be the same as if you got in an accident in a rental car?
My understanding--and those who know better should correct me if I'm wrong--is that rental cars are more often than not covered by the renter's own car insurance. Few people have bicyclist insurance, though, so people are left wondering who to sue.
And the DC company not requiring helmets is a baaaaaad idea.
I just got back from Barcelona, and the Bicing (www.bicing.com) program there is awesome. I must have the same bike they use, pronto. (Also used by the Stockholm City Bikes program.) I'm not sure who handles claims and insurance or who's responsible in European cities, but considering that all of the Euro cities who have these programs also lay in regions where health care is not an issue, I guess no one in Chicago can refer to their programs as models regarding claims. Go free-reign capitalism! Ughh....
Amsterdam was lovely, shared bikes. People didn't lock them up, when they are ready to leave, they just grab a bike and go.
I wonder how that all works there.
How is DC handling the liability?
i dont know what other cities have as their "liability models", but i would assume this information - if not available to the public - would be available for evaluation by the city of chicago.
i do know, since in most cases, a private company owns the bikes and infrastructure (like ClearChannel for SmartBike and JCDecaux for Paris' Velib), maintenance and upkeep of the bikes and systems is also their responsability. therefore the company would be liable for any accidents or injuries due to malfunctioning equipment.
I just got back from the toilet, wow, this article is not the best.
Also, most people in other countries don't sue each other for fun the way we do here. It's really a shame, but we can't say, "Ok, and nobody ruin this by filing a bullshit lawsuit."
@ blue fairlane .. that can't be quite right. many people rent cars that don't even have cars, so we (i?) wouldn't even *have* car insurance. you can buy (rent?) car insurance from the rental place, which i do, but it's not like i have a backup insurance policy working for me, you know?
@ julia porter .. sigh. too true.
I'd suggest people file more BS lawsuits here than anywhere else because all the European countries have subsidized health care, so they don't have to worry about paying their medical bills. I'm not saying which system is better, but I think it's fair to say there wouldn't be so many lawsuits if people didn't get slammed with $3,000 in hospital bills.
Anyway, it sure is a complicated thing to figure out who's going to be liable. I think the company in charge has an obligation to make sure the bikes are safe and functioning, but it's the rider's responsibility to ride the thing safely. Not that will stop anyone from suing whoever they can get their hands on!