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Lime Recalls Electric Scooters That May Catch Fire

Disabilities Rights Group Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Scooter Companies

Lime has pulled about 2,000 of its electric rental scooters from the streets of Los Angeles, Lake Tahoe and San Diego because of a battery defect in one model that may cause these vehicles to catch fire. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Lime said in a statement that it discovered a manufacturing defect in an early version of the company’s scooters produced by Segway, which may cause its onboard batteries to overheat and/or catch fire.  

Defective Lime Electric Scooters

The company then wrote a software program to detect the scooters with the defects, deactivated them and removed all faulty scooters from the streets. In late August, an employee at a Lime facility in Lake Tahoe reported hearing a loud bang. That person then walked into the repair room and saw flames shooting out of a scooter. Firefighters arrived quickly and extinguished the scooter fire, according to the Times news report.

The electric scooter still continued to periodically burst into flames and emit a chemical smell. Lime said it was also looking into a similar, unconfirmed report that another scooter made by Segway might also be prone to battery problems. The company has also stated that on another model, manufactured by Okai, the baseboard where riders place their feet may potentially break.

A Public Nuisance

In Los Angeles County, a number of cities have received complaints about riders bumping into pedestrians, injuring them severely and riding away without stopping. In many cases, riders themselves have been critically injured because of how unstable these vehicles can be.

In addition, there have been complaints from residents and business owners about how scooters are dumped on the sidewalk after use posing a trip-and-fall hazard for pedestrians, or worse, how scooters have been used as instruments of vandalism to smash up windshields of parked cars. These types of complaints have led to some cities across Southern California, including West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, El Segundo and Ventura, to ban these electric scooters.

If You Have Been Injured

If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a defective electric scooter, our experienced product defect lawyers can help you seek compensation from at-fault parties such as the manufacturer and/or the scooter company. You may be able to seek compensation for damages including medical expenses, lost income, hospitalization, cost of rehabilitative therapy and pain and suffering.

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California Personal Injury Blog