The Herald learned that one of the employees of the Auckland Council, a member of the licensing team for the Lime scooters, had been hospitalized after being seriously injured while driving. An electric scooter.
Staff member Peter Knight fractured bones in his face and hand and had to undergo a transplant after a lime accident in December. He spent three weeks on recovery leave.
The Knight accident occurred in mid-December 2018, towards the end of a three-month scooter test, while the council decided to extend its license.
"Peter's fractured the cheekbone and the orbit; he received a bone graft to repair a broken left hand and a chest injury, "said Craig Hobbs, director of regulatory services for the board, who was leading the Lime scooter trial.
No one else was involved in the accident.
Knight is among the thousands of people who have been injured with scooters since the launch of Lime in New Zealand on October 14th.
Over an eight-month period – from last October to last May – VAC received 2432 claims for injuries to an electric scooter for $ 2.8 million.
Knight, who is responsible for the team that issues mobile trading licenses, was on injury leave for three weeks. He returned to work in early January, said Hobbs.
He is the Alcohol Licensing Manager and works primarily as an advisor in the Council Regulation on Commerce in Public Places, said Hobbs.
"However, it is fair to say that his experience has provided useful information on the use of electric scooters and ridesharing in the Auckland area."
READ MORE
• Terror E-scooter: concussions, dental care, dislocations and more
• An Auckland man breaks his jaw after the Lime scooter has locked himself, throwing him over the handlebars
• Executive Lime: we apologize – and our scooters are safe
The rift, which was revealed publicly in February, caused the wheels to lock up at high speed, causing people to fly over the handlebars.
The lime identified 115 reported irregular braking incidents that may have been caused by the lockout problem, resulting in 30 injuries.
The license was suspended on February 25th until Lime solved the problem by upgrading the firmware.
At the time of the Knight crash, the board was not aware of the wheel lock problem, Hobbs said.
Knight did not know how the accident had occurred – only that he had flown the scooter and was then on the ground, said a council spokesman.
/arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/DGDZSEEM3ZDAVGTRFV5F5DHJJY.jpg)
