E-scooter injuries coming in fast
Injury claims for electric scooters have soared in New Zealand since Lime released a large number of the twowheeled machines in Christchurch and Auckland.
But overseas there have been bans, machines burning — prompting recalls, and one recorded death.
Lime currently operates in cities across the world, offering both e-scooters and bikes for hire.
Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Canada, Austria and United States use the service in their cities.
In May 2018, San Francisco imposed a temporary ban on e-scooters after residents complained of congested streets and illegal parking.
Officials were put off by the scooter companies’ aggressive tactics, but later allowed two companies to resume operation in the Northern California city.
First fatality
The Washington Post has reported Jacoby Stoneking, who died on September 4, was not wearing a helmet while riding a Lime e-scooter in Dallas, Texas.
Stoneking had injured his foot and asked a friend to call him a Lyft ride share.
When the Lyft driver arrived, Stoneking was unresponsive, lying near a broken Lime scooter.
Electric scooter companies are under fire in the United States after they were accused of gross negligence and aiding and abetting assault.
Eight plaintiffs have come forward and said the companies’ practices have resulted in individuals being injured in multiple ways, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The suit said by putting e-scooters on the streets without appropriate warnings, companies acted carelessly and should have known they would become a “public nuisance”.
It also alleges companies were aware pedestrians would be injured and by failing to stop the collisions from happening, assisted and encouraged riders as they committed “assaults”.
Three individuals have come forward claiming they were severely injured when riders on e-scooters crashed into them from behind, the LA Times reported.
Lime pulled thousands of its e-scooters off the streets this year after discovering that a small number of them may be carrying batteries with the potential to catch fire, according to company officials.
The company said in a statement this week that it learned of a risk in August that a “manufacturing defect” in some of its e-scooters could result in the battery smouldering, or in some cases, catching fire.
The statement came in response to questions from the Washington Post about Lime’s e-scooters catching fire.
Though company officials said in an interview that Lime recalled about 2000 e-scooters, they said the risk of smouldering and fires was only real in a tiny percentage of cases.