AUSTIN, Texas — In the span of six days, at least eight lawsuits have been filed against electric scooter companies operating in the city of Austin, according to documents obtained by KVUE this week.
Five of those lawsuits were filed by the local law firm James Freeman Law. Here are the summaries of their complaints:
- A plaintiff is suing for gross negligence for exemplary damages. The plaintiff claims she was injured while using a Bird scooter when its wheels locked, which caused her to be slammed to the ground. She is seeking $1 million.
- A second plaintiff is suing for gross negligence for exemplary damages. The plaintiff claims he was injured when he struck a pothole while using an Uber/Jump scooter due to the fact that its headlamp did not sufficiently illuminate the road. He is seeking monetary relief between $100,000 and $200,000.
- A third plaintiff is suing for gross negligence for exemplary damages. He claims he was injured when he had to jump off of a Bird scooter because the brakes were not working. As a result, he said he shattered his heel bone. He is seeking monetary relief between $200,000 and $1,000,000.
- A fourth plaintiff is suing for gross negligence for exemplary damages. He also claims poorly lit headlamps caused his injury while riding a Lime scooter when he struck a pothole. He claims the crash caused him to dislocate his left shoulder. He is seeking relief in the amount of $100,000 to $200,000.
- A fifth plaintiff is suing for negligence. She said she was injured while riding a Lime scooter with loose handlebars. When she reached a gravel parking lot, she said the scooter slid out from under her and threw her to the ground. The suit states she required multiple surgeries, months of rehabilitation and suffered a post-operative infection. She is seeking monetary relief between $100,000 and $200,000.
- A sixth plaintiff is suing for gross negligence for exemplary damages. He claims he was riding a Lime scooter down the sidewalk of a bridge when its brakes stopped working. When he struck an uneven portion of the sidewalk, he fell to the pavement and suffered ankle and shoulder injuries.
- A seventh plaintiff is suing for gross negligence for exemplary damages. He claims he was riding a Lime scooter when it came to a sudden stop and "deactivated spontaneously." As a result, he claims he was thrown over the handlebars, causing him to break his arm and suffer other injuries.
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The eighth lawsuit was filed by Rigby Slack Lawrence Berger + Comerford, PLLC, against Lime, Ninebot, Segway, Capital Metro, MV Transportation, RATPDev, and an unidentified man.
In this suit, the plaintiff claims he was riding a Lime scooter when he was "unexpectedly and violently discharged" off the front of the scooter onto the ground. Upon landing, he said a Capital Metro bus ran over his arm. The suit states the Capital Metro bus was being driven on behalf of Capital Metro or one of its contractors – MV and/or RATP – by the unidentified man.
Documents state that city buses are required to operate at least six feet away from people operating motor scooters when passing them. The plaintiff alleges that the driver of bus – and the driver of a second bus following behind that witnessed the incident – did not report it to their employers. The driver of the first bus did not stop, he claims.
As a result of the incident, he said he was treated at Dell Seton and required emergency surgery to repair his injured arm. As the of lawsuit's filing, documents state he has had two surgeries and may require more.
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He also alleges that the incident has caused him to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and has caused loss of income for his family. As a result, his wife has suffered loss of consortium damages due to her husband's injuries.
The couple is suing for negligence, strict product liability, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, gross negligence, negligence and negligent entrustment. They are requesting a trial by jury.
In May, another woman sued Lime after she said an "out of control" scooter caused her to go face-first into an iron fence near the Texas Capitol. The incident required her to have facial reconstruction surgery.
KVUE has reached out to the parties involved for a statement. Lime says it does not comment on pending lawsuits. We will update this story as more statements are received.
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