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 stated 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 catch fire.
Defective Lime Electric Scooters
The company then wrote a software program to detect the defective scooters, deactivate them, and remove 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 entered the repair room and saw flames shooting out of a scooter. According to the Times news report, firefighters arrived quickly and extinguished the scooter fire.
The electric scooter continued to burst into flames periodically, emitting a chemical smell. Lime stated that it was also looking into a comparable, unconfirmed report that suggested another Segway scooter might also be prone to battery issues. The company has also stated that on another model, Okai’s manufactured baseboard where riders place their feet may 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
Our knowledgeable product defect attorneys can assist you in pursuing compensation from at-fault parties like the manufacturer and the scooter company if you or a loved one have suffered harm due to a defective electric scooter. You may be able to seek compensation for damages, including medical expenses, lost income, hospitalization, the cost of rehabilitative therapy, and pain and suffering.
