The Sting of a Lime

The Bad

In August, Debbie Taussig, a Boulder-based personal injury lawyer, added a page on her law firm’s website to let community members know their legal options if they are hurt in an accident involving Lime scooters. In October, Taussig was in the end stages of a legal case involving a student who was injured by a car while on a Lime scooter back in April, notably before the scooter program was expanded across the city and campus. This is Taussig’s first and only case involving an e-scooter.

Taussig shared that if a scooter driver, pedestrian or biker is injured in an accident, they can rely on their car insurance policy despite their car not being involved in the accident. She also noted the unlikelihood that Lime would get involved in any injury cases on their scooters except in the case of injuries being caused by faulty scooters.

When asked if Lime would ever get involved in a legal case if the scooter was at fault due to malfunction Tugendrajch replied that, “There are almost no instances of that happening and 99.99% of rides globally are completed without incident – without serious incident.”

A quick search on Taussig’s plaintiff trial lawyers Listserv, reveals a case in Denver where a minor was injured after the front wheel of a Lime scooter fell off and caused a crash resulting in a concussion. It is unclear if Lime is involved with the case.

Further questions regarding the safety of Lime scooters were left unanswered and the interview was ended shortly after.

 Despite the claims of safety, a records request from the CU Boulder police department yielded four reports of crashes on campus, two occurring in the fall semester of 2021 and two in the fall semester of 2023, with the most recent accident occurring on Oct. 21. All four accidents included injuries and the victims required some form of medical attention.

Marc Barnes, an EMT working in Boulder, shared one of his experiences responding to a medical emergency caused by a Lime scooter in a google form survey.

Barnes wrote that he had rushed a 14-year-old girl from urgent care to the emergency room after she was found, “altered and lethargic in her bedroom.” According to Barnes, three days prior to the call, she had fallen off a scooter, hit the back of her head and was not initially seen for her injuries. It was discovered at the hospital that she had suffered a brain bleed and underwent surgery. Barnes added, “I never followed up on the call to see if she survived.”

While Lime accidents that are reported and require medical attention are more notable, the majority of accidents that occur go unreported.                                                      

Logan Kolander, a sophomore at CU Boulder studying civil engineering, was involved in such an accident while riding his motorized bike down Broadway on Oct. 17.

“This kid on a scooter, he was on his phone and on the scooter at the same time, and he veered into my lane. I swerved at the last second to get out of the way,” Kolander explained. “He swerved last minute too once he realized he was going right at me and we crashed head on.”

Kolander explained that while both he and his bike hit the ground, he doesn’t believe the scooter driver ever fell or was injured. Kolander shared that he was sore for a few days after while his bike, his main form of transportation, was broken.

Kolander offers unique perspectives on Lime scooters in Boulder as he focuses on safe road design and sustainable transportation in his major and also works as the fleet operations coordinator for CU NightRide.

“I think the big difference between a scooter and a bicycle is a bicycle you’re actively pedaling, and it’s an active mobility thing so you’re aware of your surroundings when you’re moving your body,” Kolander said. “Whereas a scooter, it’s just a finger on a throttle and you can really be doing anything so I think that’s why people are just unaware of their surroundings. It’s just a lot more passive.”

Kolander criticizes the city for the focus on Lime, “I really would have liked to see Boulder, instead of opening the reins and the scooters just unloaded, I would have liked them investing more in the B-Cycles.”

As Kolander points to, the problems don’t stop when the ride is over. Assuming riders make it safely to their destination, parking the scooters initiates another wave of trouble for the community.

“First of all, [the B-Cycles] don’t leave a mess. I’ve seen scooters in the creek by my house and in the middle of the road, people just leave them everywhere,” said Kolander.

Lime creates docking stations called lime groves all around the city and campus in an effort to prevent abandoned scooters in the middle of the road, in their frat house, or at the bottom of the creek. Parking in the limes groves is mandatory when in certain areas, including the CU Boulder campus, however, they are not mandatory for the rest of the city.

Residents have been using the communication site, “Nextdoor,” to air their grievances with their neighbors about the scooters abandoned in front of their homes and on their streets. One user posts, “I've had to pick a number of them up because I'm a pedestrian and they were blocking the sidewalk. I even found one in the parking lot of my apartment complex last week and I've never seen that before... I'm not sure how they're helping people, but I have for sure seen an increase in irresponsible behavior, re: the use of the Lime scooters. It's a bit much.”

Above any other concerns with Lime scooters, abandonment seems to be the issue frustrating community members the most. Tara Winer, a city council member who voted to approve Lime scooters across the city, reiterated the popularity of these particular grievances.

“I can tell you from complaints in my inbox, I get occasionally concerned grandmas worried about people on the scooters but also where they’re left, that’s the complaint I get mostly, where they are left,” says Winer.

Beyond just annoyance, another Nextdoor user mentions the accessibility concerns these abandoned scooters cause.

“For the able-bodied people commenting here who don’t realize or care, an obstruction to a sidewalk where a disabled pedestrian must step aside onto the grass or dirt to get around the hazard, one can easily lose their footing especially if there are divots or uneven areas. For those in wheelchairs, this is even more problematic,” posted the user.

Director of ADA compliance and ADA Coordinator at the Office of institutional Equity and Compliance at CU Boulder, Caitlin O’Donnell, stated in an email, “If you encounter a disability-related barrier to access created by a Lime scooter or any other obstruction, it can be reported to ADA Compliance (adacoordinator@colorado.edu or 303-492-9725) if the obstruction is on campus or City of Boulder (accessibility@bouldercolorado.gov or 720-576-2506) if the obstruction is off campus.”