They are touted as "the cure for the common tour," GPS-guided cars that allow tourists to get around San Diego on three-wheeled bicycles with motorcycle engines. GoCars launched in April 2004 and have since exploded as part of the San Diego tourism industry.
Yet, while GoCars can be fun, they can also be dangerous. The cars are bright colors, but they are also small, low to the ground and relatively slow. They share the road with much larger, faster cars and distracted drivers -- that's enough to make any personal injury attorney or car safety advocate nervous.
The cars can legally travel San Diego streets because they have three wheels and are more similar to scooters than motorcycles (thus avoiding motorcycle registration and training requirements). Yet, many people who have driven GoCars compare them to motorcycles, with some even saying that they got a "crash course on motorcycle riding" when they took the cars onto the road.
So, assuming they are similar to motorcycles, we can expect to find similar driving behaviors around GoCars as we find around motorcycles. The main culprit is low visibility. Drivers often merge or turn into smaller vehicles because they fail to look over their shoulders and cannot see the vehicles in their mirrors. They may also follow GoCars too closely, especially in increment weather, and cause serious injury when they cannot stop in time to avoid the slower vehicles.
If you have been injured in a GoCar accident, chances are another driver is at fault. However, if the vehicle malfunctions or you did not receive proper training, you may also be able to hold GoCars responsible for your injuries. To learn about personal injury lawsuits against other drivers and companies, please visit our pages on San Diego car accidents.
Source: San Diego GoCar, 2008