Indiana Court Ruling on Electric Scooter Collision
An Indiana appeals court has ruled that State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company must cover injuries sustained by a pedestrian hit by an electric foot scooter under the company’s uninsured motorist (UM) policy. The ruling, issued on April 23, 2025, stemmed from an incident in November 2022 when Michelle DiPego of Muncie, Indiana, was walking along a Baltimore city path and was struck from behind by a woman riding an electric scooter.
Although the rider and a companion briefly stopped, they refused to identify themselves and left the scene. DiPego suffered a wrist injury and submitted a claim to State Farm under her UM coverage. State Farm denied the claim, arguing that the scooter was not a “land motor vehicle” under the terms of DiPego’s automobile insurance policy and therefore fell outside UM coverage. DiPego then sued, seeking a declaration that her injuries were covered.
The key issue was the policy language. State Farm’s policy promised to pay compensatory damages for bodily injuries caused by an accident involving an uninsured “land motor vehicle,” but did not specifically define that term. State Farm pointed to Indiana’s Motor Vehicle Code, which excludes electric scooters from its definition of a motor vehicle. However, the court emphasized that insurance policies must be interpreted based on their plain, everyday meaning to an average person, not statutory definitions unless the policy says otherwise.
Using standard dictionary definitions, the court found that the scooter – a self-propelled device operating on land – fit the ordinary meaning of a “land motor vehicle.” The appellate court also noted that State Farm had waived its argument over whether the scooter was uninsured by not properly raising that issue earlier in the trial court proceedings.
The Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed the trial court’s decision, allowing DiPego to seek UM benefits under her State Farm policy. The case highlights how newer forms of transportation, like electric scooters, are testing the boundaries of traditional insurance policy language.
The case is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Michelle DiPego and Michael DiPego, Case No. 24A-PL-1268, in the Court of Appeals of Indiana.
