MILWAUKEE — Rider pushing for safer roads after falling off E-Scooter downtown.
One electronic scooter rider is pushing for safer roads after a fall left her with breaks in several parts of her legs.
What should’ve been a fun late-night ride on an electric scooter, ended in a costly fall after Solana Patterson-Ramos ran over a small divot on Water Street near Wisconsin Avenue.
"So, I'm going to need knee replacement before I'm 40, basically," Patterson-Ramos said.
She spent six days at St. Mary’s Hospital, and she’s now riding in a wheelchair.
"Because that rule is coming, I thought, 'It's late night. It's not many cars out. Let me get used to being in the street and not on the sidewalk,'" she said.
Quickly after getting on her Lime scooter, she realized some of the obstacles she’d face on the road.
The subsequent surgery on her knees comes with a $70,000 price tag. Some, but not all of it will be covered by a charity grant for people dealing with hardship.
The City of Milwaukee will not be held at fault, because the pothole was not reported before the accident took place.
"Municipalities are given a good degree of protection with various immunities to even bring a suit," said Christopher Strohbehn, an attorney for Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown.
Patterson-Ramos told TODAY’S TMJ4 she will ride again. However, she is urging both riders and municipalities to be mindful of road conditions.
"I think it's a very good way of dealing with the transportation issues Milwaukee has,” Patterson-Ramos said. “But also we need to make sure our roads are good everywhere."
TODAY’S TMJ4 reached out to Froedtert and Ascension Wisconsin about the number of scooter-related accidents they’ve seen. A representative with Froedert said they haven’t seen patient with scooter-related injuries come in. Ascension said they’ve seen a few, but not a large influx of patients.
A gofundme has also been set up to help with recovery costs.
