Last Thursday, a Texas man sued Neutron Holdings Inc., doing business as Lime, alleging that the baseboard of the electric scooter he was riding broke in half, reportedly causing serious foot and ankle injuries. The Northern District of California complaint stated four state law product liability claims in connection with the allegedly defective scooter, marketed by the defendant “under the guise of environmentally friendly transportation without the headache of traffic.”
According to the filing, plaintiff Daniel Jose Duron attended a college baseball game on June 9, 2019 and, after the game, used a Lime scooter to return to his vehicle parked on the Texas college campus. During his ride, the two-wheeler reportedly broke beneath Duron, injuring him.
As evidence of Lime’s alleged misconduct, the complaint highlighted a trio of equipment failure issues the company experienced. Firstly, the defendant issued a recall for about 2,000 Segway Ninebot model scooters in October 2018 after reports came in that some had caught on fire. The next month, the defendant allegedly implemented another recall after complaints of Okai scooters breaking in half surfaced. Finally, in February 2019, Lime reportedly publicized news that a firmware bug was causing abrupt and excessive braking, resulting in rider injury.
As Law Street Media previously reported, safety concerns also triggered local and state-level restrictions as well as a bevy of lawsuits, for example, a class action lawsuit filed last August in California state court by injured riders.
The complaint argued that Lime’s scooters are made with inadequate safety features and that the company has failed to maintain them properly. The plaintiff claimed that the Lime’s scooters are unreasonably dangerous and negligently designed, manufactured, marketed, and inadequately labelled. For redress, Duron seeks a jury trial, damages, and an award of his attorneys’ fees and litigation costs.
The plaintiff is represented by Harlan Law P.C. and Johnson Becker PLLC.
