Scooter giant recalls model amid possible safety threat

The fast-growing electronic scooter company Lime will immediately remove one of its brands from every city across the globe after determining the scooters could break apart while in use.

The decision arrived several weeks after the company said the same model occasionally breaks apart “when subjected to repeated abuse.”

Lime said Friday it was “looking into reports that scooters manufactured by Okai may break and are working cooperatively with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the relevant authorities internationally to get to the bottom of this.”

Okai is a Chinese manufacturer. Nobody could be reached for comment.

Lime said it would decommission all Okai scooters across its fleets, but company officials said it was difficult to determine the precise number of scooters affected and declined to provide an estimate. They also declined to reveal how many U.S. cities possess the devices.

Riders around the country regularly report on social media that they’ve seen Lime scooters broken in half, often where the baseboard meets the stem.

“Safety is Lime’s highest priority,” the company said in a statement. “The vast majority of Lime’s fleet is manufactured by other companies and decommissioned Okai scooters are being replaced with newer, more advanced scooters considered best in class for safety.”

Since Lime launched its scooters this spring, two people have died while riding the devices, and others have been badly injured, according to authorities.