Lime issues second recall of defective scooters in less than one month
Electric scooter company Lime has issued a recall for one of its scooter models following reports that the scooters were falling apart while users were riding them.
The company blames its manufacturer, Okai, for the faulty scooters. Lime told the Washington Post earlier this month that they are, “working cooperatively with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the relevant authorities internationally to get to the bottom of this.”
Okai has since rejected Lime’s claims that the scooters from its factory are the ones breaking apart.
“We feel it necessary to make cautions to the public on the credibility of such statements made by Lime. Obviously, Lime has other suppliers whose scooters broke,” Okai said, according to CNN Business.
The Chinese manufacturer has sold 32,000 scooters to Lime, all of which have been recalled.
There is not yet an exact number of scooters that will need to be recalled, but the total process could be lengthy, especially since this is the second recall that the e-scooter company has had to make in less than a month. In October, Lime issued a recall for its Segway Ninebot model of scooters after they were reportedly catching on fire. The lithium batteries, which power the scooters, caused the fumes. A small percentage of the company’s scooters were affected by this, and they were mostly located throughout California.
However, one scooter was reportedly in flames just a few miles from the university, near the apartment complex Polaris on the Park.
It is difficult to determine whether or not the scooters have a design flaw or if they have just been mistreated by users, thus causing them to fall apart. The most common issue with the Lime scooters is the deck detaching from the rest of the scooter.
The fast growing scooter company uses different manufacturers to make its scooters, so there are various models of scooters for riders to choose from during these recalls, which only makes the recall process harder.
The issue of safety with e-scooters such as Lime and Bird has been debatable. The scooters are meant to be ridden on the street and not on the sidewalk, which makes it even more dangerous for riders who aren’t properly equipped with helmets. There have been countless reports of injuries, and even two deaths, following accidents on these e-scooters. In Washington, DC, Carlos Sanchez-Martin was killed on a Lime scooter after he was hit by an SUV and dragged for a dozen miles. In Dallas, Jacoby Stoneking was killed after falling off a scooter on his way home from work.
The e-scooter trend blew up faster than the companies could keep up with in terms of laws regulations. Many cities, including Austin, have fought for more regulations put onto these scooters.