Britain’s first e-scooter death: YouTube star was crushed by lorry ‘thanks to a f lat tyre’
A YOUTUBE star died when she was thrown under a lorry after a flat tyre on her electric scooter caused her to lose control, an inquest has heard.
Emily Hartridge, 35, was on her way to a fertility clinic when she was killed instantly in the collision last July.
The star, who had only just received the vehicle as a birthday gift, is believed to be the first person in Britain to be killed while riding an electronic scooter.
Ruling the death was an accident, senior coroner Fiona Wilcox said the scooter was being driven too fast and the lack of air in the tyre had caused Miss Hartridge to lose control in Battersea, south-west London.
In her written conclusions seen by the BBC, Dr Wilcox said: ‘Miss Hartridge was riding an electric scooter on Queenstown Road when she lost control after passing over an inspector hatch in the cycle lane and was thrown under the path of an HGV. She died instantly. The scooter was being unsuitably driven, too fast and with an underinflated tyre and this caused the loss of control and her death.’
Miss Hartridge, from Hambledon in Hampshire, became an online star with her ‘10 Reasons Why’ videos discussing topics from sex to mental health attracting more than 3 million hits a month on YouTube.
The personal trainer had also hosted the Channel 4 show ‘S**t I’m 30’ as well as having more than 350,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel in which she had spoken about having her eggs frozen.
She had been on her way to a fertility clinic on July 12 last year as she prepared to take the next step in starting a family with boyfriend Jake Hazell, who had given her the scooter just weeks before. Mr Hazell said last year that he and the presenter – who he described as the ‘most beautiful woman in the world’ – were overcome with excitement as they planned for a baby. He has also spoken of his regrets over buying Miss Hartridge the e-scooter for her birthday. Rental e-scooters were made legal on roads in Britain this summer in a bid to ease pressure on public transport amid the coronavirus crisis, but privately owned scooters can not be used on public roads or pavements in guidelines published by the Department for Transport.
Their speed has also been capped at 15.5mph and it is recommended that riders wear helmets.
Private owners of the battery-powered machines face a fine and points on their driving licence if they use them on public roads, but despite this, sales of e-scooters, which cost up to £300, have soared and the rules are widely flouted.