Lime e-scooter glitch likened to “Russian roulette”

Calls for action follow reports of Lime electric scooter riders suffering injuries they attribute to a malfunction in which the scooter’s wheels can randomly lock, causing sudden braking.

An Auckland man who sustained broken bones and a smashed face after the glitch sent him flying wants Auckland mayor Phil Goff and the Auckland Council to pull Lime e-scooters off the streets until the issue is fixed.

“It is only a matter of time before we read about the city’s first Lime scooter fatality,” warns the man, who Stuff didn’t name.

Lime has admitted to the “operational issue” – the same fault that led the US start-up pulling its fleet off Switzerland’s streets.

Several Kiwis say the glitch had happened to them too – one likening it to a game of “Russian roulette”, Stuff reports.

Tamsyn Rutherford, 28, was riding around Cornwall Park with her partner in early February when the front wheel of her Lime scooter suddenly locked, sending her over the handle bars and onto the road.

She sustained concussion and several gashes and bruises, her partner Matt Foreman told Stuff.

Together they lodged a claim with Lime and sought reparations for accident and emergency costs, pharmacy expenses and ongoing physiotherapy.

Ashley Jones, 34, was scooting down Nelson St in central Auckland in mid-January when a similar thing happened.

“The wheels locked and I went forward, flew through the air, landed on my elbow and chest before sliding a few metres down the road.”

He fractured his shoulder, possibly tore two tendons and badly grazed an elbow.

Lower Hutt’s Zachary Devcich, 18, needed stitches after his Lime scooter malfunctioned and sent him sprawling into the Petone Esplanade in February.

“It seems to me Lime is playing Russian roulette with their scooters,” his father John Devcich says.

“They know they are faulty so they should take them out of circulation until they can assure us that they are safe.”

A Lime spokeswoman says the company is aware of the glitch, Stuff reports.

She says affected scooters have been removed from circulation and asks future users who experience the glitch to report it on the Lime app so these can be removed too, adding that user safety is Lime’s first priority, Stuff says.

What causes the fault is a mystery, as the issue is still under investigation.

Phil Goff, Auckland Transport (AT) and the Auckland Council say they are all aware of the matter.

“We are seeking assurances from Lime that this is being managed with urgency,” an AT spokeswoman says.

The code of practice for shared scooter services stipulates the operator needs to ensure its fleet is safe for its customers.