Witness: Scooter wheel locked
Man dies five days after fall from Lime e-scooter
Awitness to a fatal Auckland Lime e-scooter crash says he believes the front wheel may have locked up — sending the victim flying over the handlebars.
A 23-year-old man died at the weekend after falling off a Lime scooter in downtown Auckland the Monday before.
The death is believed to be the first from an e-scooter in New Zealand.
In February Lime scooters were briefly pulled from the streets of Auckland and Dunedin amid concerns about their safety, including reports of a problem with front wheels locking.
The man was rushed to Auckland Hospital in a critical condition after an incident involving a Lime e-scooter on Westhaven Drive, St Mary’s Bay.
Jeff Young, a Remuera property valuer, witnessed the crash and told the Herald it appeared the scooter’s front wheel may have locked up.
Young was driving along Westhaven Drive toward the Harbour Bridge when he saw the Lime scooter rider in the left-hand road lane about 30 metres to 50 metres in front of him and travelling about 15km/ h to 20km/h.
He said the man, who was not wearing a helmet, appeared to get into trouble and veered to the right.
“In the process he was thrown over. It was like the rear wheel came up and threw him off which probably told me his front wheel must have locked up in some way, which meant the handlebars could have been locked to one side,” he said.
Young said the man went over the handlebars and landed on his back, striking his head on the ground about a metre over the centre line in the right hand lane on the road.
“He didn’t move at all from that point,” said Young, who stopped and was joined by three or four people on the Westhaven boardwalk.
“We could see he was breathing, but there was no movement whatsoever,” said Young.
Young said a woman called the emergency services and they were told not to touch him.
An ambulance arrived 15 to 20 minutes after the accident and the rider was put in a neck brace, placed on a stretcher and put in the ambulance, Young said.
Auckland Council bosses temporarily suspended Lime scooters’ licence in February amid safety concerns. The decisions followed a number of incidents, some of which resulted in injuries, caused by the wheels on e-scooters unexpectedly locking.
Young believed helmets should be compulsory for all e-scooter riders.
He could not be sure a helmet would have saved the rider in the accident he witnessed “but I would have thought he would have stood a far better chance of surviving”.
It is compulsory to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle.
The Auckland death comes after a study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal last month, said e-scooter crash victims were arriving at hospitals with the sort of traumatic, multiple injuries usually only seen after car crashes.
ACC data shows that claims for e-scooter crashes are still dwarfed by scooter, motorcycle and car crashes. But one thing which stands out in recent research on e-scooter crashes is the severity of the injuries.
Researchers of the study found that the most common crash times were between 8am and 9am and after 6pm, and the most likely age-group to crash were 20-29-year-olds and riders older than 50.
In June, a 58-year-old man died riding a Lime but police said he suffered a “medical event” and the matter was referred to the Coroner.
Lime spokeswoman Lauren Mentjox said the entire Lime team was deeply saddened by the news of the tragic death of one of their riders.
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with the rider’s family and loved ones during this extremely difficult time.
“At Lime, we take rider safety very seriously and we are working closely with the authorities to support their investigation.”
The death, confirmed by police on Friday, has been referred to the Coroner.
The Auckland Council’s director of regulatory services, Craig Hobbs, said the council was saddened to learn of the death. “Our thoughts and condolences are with the young man’s family and friends at this difficult time.”
The council had been in contact with Lime since Monday evening when it first heard reports of an accident in the Westhaven area.
Lime has given a verbal update and provided a report.
“At this stage, Auckland Council has not been given any information which may suggest a mechanical failure of the e-scooter involved in this tragic incident.
“All details relating to the cause of this incident are now with the Coroner and, as such, we are unable to provide any further information at this stage. We can, however, confirm that we have received no other reports of mechanical issues with e-scooters either prior to or after this incident.”
Hobbs said the council was in the final six weeks of phase two of its e-scooter trial, and would soon evaluate what had been learned during the trial.
“Safety has always been paramount to us, and balancing this with significant demand for micro-mobility options is something that many cities around New Zealand and the world are grappling with.”
It was like the rear wheel came up and threw him off. Jeff Young, witness