Two of Biggest Scooter Startups Being Sued For Gross Negligence

Well that didnt take long. JL

AnnLee Ellingson reports in The Biz Journals:

The complaint says that the scooter companies were negligent because they should have known that their vehicles would be a dangerous “public nuisance,” and by not stopping accidents that injured pedestrians, they contributed to these “assaults.”The lawsuit claims that Bird’s and Lime’s safety instructions fall short, that their scooters have mechanical issues, and that the companies have breached the warranties on their devices, which are “not suitable” for repeated public use.
Accusing the startups of “gross negligence,” a class-action lawsuit has been filed against Bird Rides Inc., LimeBike and other companies involved in the proliferation of shared electric scooters.
The complaint, filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court and spotted by The Washington Post, accuses the defendants of “aiding and abetting assault” by contributing to injuries sustained from collisions with the scooters.
Three of the lawsuit’s eight initial plaintiffs allege they were pedestrians hit by scooters from behind, including 62-year-old David Peterson, who told The Post he was struck by a scooter in June, suffering a fractured arm and severed biceps. The rider fled the scene.
The complaint says that the scooter companies were negligent because they should have known that their vehicles would be a dangerous “public nuisance,” and by not stopping accidents that injured pedestrians, they contributed to these “assaults.”The lawsuit claims that Bird’s and Lime’s safety instructions fall short, that their scooters have mechanical issues, and that the companies have breached the warranties on their devices, which are “not suitable” for repeated public use.
Lime launched in Memphis last Friday, Oct. 19, but did so without having yet secured a permit. The city said in a Facebook post the same day that, while it welcomes shared mobility, it insists companies follow the city's shared mobility ordinance and would begin removing the scooters if the California-based scooter company didn't.
Yesterday, Lime said it would continue to try to operate in Memphis but, "In the meantime, as a show of good faith, we will be removing our scooters from the streets of Memphis within the next 24-48 hours."
Bird brought its scooters to Memphis in June after having been forced out of Nashville — temporarily, as it turned out.
Scooter manufacturers Xiaomi United States and Segway are also named as defendants.
The lawsuit seeks damages for the plaintiffs as well as the requirement that “adequate warnings and/or instructions” accompany scooters and their related apps.
“While we don’t comment on pending litigation, safety has always been at the very core of everything we do at Lime — as is our mission of reducing cars from city streets and making them safer and greener for pedestrians, bike and scooter riders alike,” a company spokesperson told the Post, adding that Lime “prides itself on taking proactive steps relating safety wherever we have a presence."
Noting that the lawsuit had been filed “against the entire e-scooter industry,” Bird said in a statement, “We believe that the climate crisis and our car dependency demand a transportation mode shift, and clean energy vehicles like e-scooters are already replacing millions of short car trips. There is no evidence that riding an e-scooter presents a greater level of danger to riders than riding a bike. Cars remain the greatest threat to commuters, killing over 40,000 people in the U.S. yearly.”