Lime is facing a number of compensation claims from people who say they were seriously injured riding “faulty” e-bikes in London.
London law firm Osbornes Law is dealing with 12 cases, with injuries ranging from broken leg, arm or ankle to dislocated shoulder, when bikes “fell apart” or the brakes “stopped working”. Some riders say they suffered brain injuries after falling from a bike.
Comment: Lime bikes are facing lots of legal claims... good. Hopefully that means fewer dangerous cyclists
One of the claimants, Elliot Poole, 31, a systems analyst from south London, launched legal action against Lime after he came off a hired bike when he claims the seat fell off.
He said he felt like a “zombie” for two hours after hitting his head in February this year.
Mr Poole said: “I have no recollection of what happened but apparently I fell off, hit my head and managed to get home on a bus despite me having no idea what was going on. My wife was really scared as I was asking ‘where am I and how did I get here?’
“I was acting like a zombie and she was understandably terrified that I would be permanently brain damaged. She called an ambulance, and I only really came around three hours after I came off the bike when I was in A&E.
“The loss of memory for that period of time is the most worrying thing for me as it could have been so much worse.”
According to his lawyers, he suffered a broken thumb, sprained wrist and a head injury, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic amnesia.
He added: “I used to be an avid user of Lime bikes and I think they are a useful form of transport, but they aren’t maintained well enough and people like me end up getting hurt.
“I only realised the seat had fallen off because, when you return a Lime bike, you have to upload a picture to Lime. I asked for the picture from Lime and it showed the seat was by the side of the bike, which isn’t great.
“The crash and particularly the loss of memory really shook me up and my injuries were frustrating and have affected my life. Then there was also the anxiety it caused. It took me a while to get back on a bike.”
Lime bikes have soared in popularity, with hundreds of thousands of rides being made in the capital each day.
During the five-day Tube strike at the start of September, Lime said its ridership was up about 70 per cent.
Lime does not reveal ridership data or the size of its fleet, but industry sources suspect it has about 40,000 e-bikes in London.
However, there have been several reports of some riders suffering a broken leg – dubbed “Lime bike leg” – when the bike, which weights about 25kg, falls on the cyclist.
Earlier this year, Jaison Patel, a consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal London hospital, told The Times that he was seeing an increasing number of injuries involving e-bikes.
Osbornes Law has received a growing number of complaints from cyclists over more than a year. The claims involved compensation for injuries and loss of earnings.
In Mr Poole’s case, a letter of claim has been sent to Lime but the claim has not been submitted to the High Court.
Sam Collard, head of cycling accident claims at Osbornes Law, said: “Unfortunately Elliott’s case is far from unique as we have seen a steady influx of cases coming to us in the past few months from people wanting to sue Lime for injuries caused by faulty bikes.
“Some of these injuries are serious and in all cases were avoidable if the bikes had been in working order.
“People like Elliot have a right to be safe on a bike they hire and not be in danger of potentially life-changing or worse injuries. I hope Lime settle Elliott’s case, and those of the other 11 clients we have as soon as possible so they can move on with their lives.”
A spokesperson for Lime said: “We are saddened to hear about these incidents and our thoughts are with those impacted.
“Safety informs everything we do at Lime - from how we design and maintain our vehicles, to our rider education, and how we work with cities. Given that this is an open legal matter, we cannot comment further at this time."
Lime currently operates in 17 London boroughs, including Hackney, where it has won a new contract from the council.
Last week Lime managed to resolve a dispute with Hounslow council after losing the right to operate in the borough.
This had created a “Checkpoint Charlie” situation where Lime bikes stopped working at the Hounslow borough boundary.
However, Lime bikes can now be ridden through the borough, but not parked or hired in Hounslow, including in Chiswick and Brentford town centres.
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