Electric Cart Accidents in Grocery Stores: Who Is Liable?

Electric motorized shopping carts, often found at the front of large grocery and big-box stores, are a vital accessibility tool for many Californians. They provide independence to shoppers with limited mobility, turning a potentially difficult errand into a manageable one. However, as an article in the NKY Tribune recently highlighted, these convenient devices can also be dangerous, posing serious risks to both their operators and other shoppers when they are poorly maintained or used improperly.

When an electric cart accident results in a serious injury, victims are often left with painful injuries and complex legal questions. Who is responsible? At Walch Law, we have seen firsthand the significant harm these incidents can cause. Understanding the store’s legal duties and your rights is the first step toward holding the negligent parties accountable and securing the compensation you need to recover.

The Hidden Dangers of Motorized Shopping Carts

While these carts typically move at a walking pace, their weight and design can lead to severe accidents. The risks, as identified in reports and our legal experience, are numerous and often preventable.

• Collisions with Other Shoppers: An operator who is inexperienced, has impaired vision, or is otherwise unable to control the cart can easily strike another customer. These frontal or side-impact collisions can knock people to the ground, causing fractures, head trauma, and other serious injuries.
• Tipping and Rollovers: Most electric carts are built on a three-wheel frame to improve maneuverability in tight aisles. However, this design can also make them less stable. Hitting an uneven surface, a pothole in the parking lot, or taking a turn too sharply can cause the cart to tip over, injuring the operator.
• Poor Maintenance and Malfunctions: Carts are subject to significant wear and tear. Stores have a duty to inspect and maintain them, but often fail to do so. This can lead to malfunctioning brakes, disabled “dead-man” safety switches (which should stop the cart when the user gets up), or structural failures.
• Lack of Training and Instruction: Many stores fail to provide users with clear instructions on how to operate the carts safely. As one large verdict highlighted, a history of accidents tied to a lack of proper instruction can be powerful evidence of corporate negligence.
• Inexperienced or Improper Use: Stores may allow minors or individuals who are clearly impaired to operate these carts, creating a foreseeable risk to everyone in the store.

The Store’s Legal Responsibility Under California Law

Under California’s premises liability law, grocery stores have a strict legal duty to keep their premises reasonably safe for all customers. This duty extends directly to the provision and supervision of electric shopping carts. This includes:

• Duty to Inspect and Maintain: The store must have a regular, documented process for inspecting each electric cart for defects like worn tires, faulty brakes, or broken safety features.
• Duty to Repair or Remove: Any cart found to be damaged or unsafe must be immediately removed from service until it is properly repaired.
• Duty to Train and Instruct: The store must ensure its employees are trained on cart safety and are capable of providing basic operating instructions to customers. Warning labels and instructions on the cart itself must be clear and visible.
• Duty to Supervise: While stores cannot discriminate against shoppers with disabilities, they have a duty to prevent obviously impaired individuals or unaccompanied minors from operating a motorized cart in a way that endangers others.
• Duty to Maintain Records: The store should keep detailed maintenance logs for each cart and retain incident reports and surveillance video related to any accidents.

If a store fails in any of these duties and an injury occurs, it can be held legally liable for the resulting damages. In some cases, if the cart itself has a defective design that makes it inherently unsafe, a product liability claim may also be brought against the manufacturer.

What to Do After an Electric Cart Accident

The steps you take immediately following an accident are crucial for protecting your health and your legal claim.

1. Report the Incident: Immediately notify a store manager. Do not leave the premises. Insist that they create an official incident report and ask for a copy.
2. Document Everything: Use your phone to take pictures and videos of the scene, the cart involved (including any visible damage or lack of warning labels), your injuries, and the surrounding area.
3. Get Witness Information: If other shoppers or employees saw the accident, get their names and phone numbers. Their testimony can be invaluable.
4. Seek Prompt Medical Care: Go to an emergency room or urgent care right away, especially if you have hit your head or have neck or back pain. This creates a medical record linking your injuries to the accident.
5. Preserve Evidence: Keep your receipt to prove you were in the store. Keep the clothing and shoes you were wearing in a safe place.
6. Do Not Give a Recorded Statement: The store’s insurance company will likely contact you. Politely decline to provide a recorded statement until you have consulted an attorney.
7. Contact the Best Grocery Store Accident Lawyer Immediately: Your lawyer needs to send a formal preservation letter to the store, demanding they save all relevant evidence, including surveillance footage and the cart’s maintenance logs, before it can be destroyed.

Common Defenses and How We Fight Back

Stores and their insurance companies will often try to shift blame to avoid paying a claim. Common defenses include:

• User Misuse: They may argue the operator was driving recklessly or not paying attention.
• Comparative Fault: They may claim the injured pedestrian was distracted or walked out in front of the cart.
• “No Notice”: The store might claim they had no knowledge that the cart was defective.

At Walch Law, we counter these arguments with facts. We demand the store’s maintenance records, training policies, sweep logs, and surveillance video. This evidence often reveals a pattern of neglect, proving the store knew or should have known about the risk and failed to act.

Recovering Full Compensation for Your Injuries

If you were injured in an electric cart accident, you are entitled to seek compensation for all of your losses. This includes:

• Medical Bills: All past and future costs for your medical treatment.
• Lost Wages: Income you lost while unable to work.
• Loss of Earning Capacity: Compensation for any permanent disability that affects your ability to earn a living.
• Pain and Suffering: Damages for the physical pain, emotional trauma, and loss of enjoyment of life caused by the accident.

How Walch Law Can Help You Following Your Los Angeles Grocery Store Accident

Taking on a major corporation after an injury can be an intimidating process. You need an experienced advocate who is not afraid to fight for your rights. For over 45 years, the team at Walch Law has been successfully representing victims of premises liability, securing a 98%+ success rate. We handle every aspect of your case—from the initial investigation to negotiating with powerful insurance companies—so you can focus on healing.

We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we win your case.

If you or a loved one was injured in an electric shopping cart accident, contact Walch Law today for a free, confidential consultation. We are here to provide the clear answers and powerful representation you need.