CALIFORNIA- Businessinsider.com writes that nine scooter accident victims in California are taking their grievances to court. The injured individuals filed a lawsuit against several of the larger scooter operating services, such as Bird, Segway, and Lime, in addition to other companies. The lawsuit comes as many people have been expressing concern over the arrival of […]
CALIFORNIA- Businessinsider.com writes that nine scooter accident victims in California are taking their grievances to court. The injured individuals filed a lawsuit against several of the larger scooter operating services, such as Bird, Segway, and Lime, in addition to other companies. The lawsuit comes as many people have been expressing concern over the arrival of e-scooters in many major American cities.
The lawsuit accuses the companies of endangering riders, pedestrians, and the public by introducing scooters.
One of the plaintiffs suffered damage to his mouth, including eight teeth when he crashed on a Lime scooter. Another of the victims tore his bicep tendon, an injury that required surgery after he crashed on a Bird scooter.
The lawsuit is blaming the companies for the way that they introduced their scooters to many cities. In some instances, the scooters were just brought into cities without any permission as the services tried to get their companies running. That method of flooding the streets with scooters is part of the reason that the devices are creating so many problems according to the complaint.
One of the companies, Bird, released a statement indicating that 40,000 vehicle-related deaths are occurring annually in the United States and argued that scooters are eliminating the need for millions of short car trips, therefore reducing pollution and improving transportation.
Others are not impressed with the scooters, and state that they have led to serious problems beyond the 100s of injury reports that are flooding into attorneys’ offices. Additional issues complained of include “civil unrest” as people have tossed the devices in dumpsters, garbage cans, and lit them on fire. The fires are particularly troublesome as the batteries in the e-scooters can explode.