If you were thinking about hitching a ride on a Lime Scooter anytime soon you may want to rethink that for the time being. The scooter company is currently experiencing some software bugs that are causing the scooters to brake suddenly. This causes riders to often be thrown from their scooters, usually resulting in injuries. Media outlets around the world have reported extreme injuries sustained from the glitch, though it’s only happening in New Zealand.
Users are experiencing the problem when the front wheels of the scooter randomly lock up mid-ride. The company, along with Bird Scooter, has already been battling protesters who think the scooters are too dangerous. Many cities have opted to ban e-scooters altogether until a safer strategy or alternative is created.
About The Glitch
New Zealand riders have been urged to proceed with caution on the scooters for the time being until Lime can resolve the problem. Around 30 known injuries have been reported from 155 incidents involving the scooter glitch in the last couple of days. In a statement released to Forbes this week, Lime Scooter said; “”We recently became aware of a software issue that may cause the locking mechanism on the front wheel to engage while on a trip.” The company went on to say, “Less than a fraction of a percent of all Lime trips in New Zealand have been impacted by this issue, specifically 0.0086%. While a small fraction of the more than 1.8 millions scooter rides to date, even one incident reported is too many,” in a statement to Forbes.
Lime has investigated the braking issue and found that it’s usually caused when riders are going downhill at high speeds. The problem has also been reported in other countries like Switzerland. Most often the issue occurs if a rider hits some type of hole in the ground that causes the scooter to brake because of its software. Lime will be rolling out new updates soon to take care of the bug. In the meantime, it may be best to avoid going too fast on the e-scooters. The company has not said specifically when it would be updating the scooters.
Other Issues
More than a couple of Americans are currently suing Lime scooter after sustaining injuries while using the machines. App users are specifically urged to stay off of sidewalks and ride in the bike lanes of streets. This can pose a danger to riders that don’t wear helmets, as they’re often exposed to heavy traffic. In one case, a Fort Lauderdale rider was catastrophically injured and left in a vegetative state after colliding with a Toyota Corolla on her way home from work. Not all cases are this extreme, but riders are being urged to wear helmets on the e-scooters.
Lime will be rolling out updates to its scooters to take care of the bug. The company found that the bug causes the machines to brake during use. The company has said that the scooters will generally only brake suddenly if riders are going downhill at high speeds and hit a pot hole.
