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After having to pull out all its fleet of electric scooters from several cities in Switzerland due to unexpected braking reports, Lime is facing a similar problem in New Zealand. Auckland officials announced Friday that the city had temporarily suspended Lime's license following reports of injuries sustained by a runner.
Lime reported 155 irregular braking incidents with its electronic scooters, according to Auckland director of operations Dean Kimpton. Runners were injured in 30 of these incidents, including only 20 in Auckland, according to a press release. Lime will have to meet several criteria to ensure the safety of passengers – including by subjecting themselves to an independent review and reporting on events – before the city decides whether or not to lift the suspension.
The company tackled the problem in an article published Saturday on its blog, indicating that it had recently "detected a bug in the firmware of our fleet of scooters that, in rare circumstances, could cause sudden excessive braking when using it ".
"Through in-depth analysis by our in-house team and external experts, we diagnosed the problem in a lab and determined that, in very rare cases – usually downhill at high speed while striking a pothole or another obstacle – excessive braking force on the front wheel. can happen, resulting in the unexpected shutdown of a scooter, "said the company.
Lime seems to minimize the severity of injuries, claiming that "most have been bumps and bruises". But, as Forbes pointed out, a man would have broken his jaw and reportedly had other injuries this month, after stating he had blocked the wheel of a Lime scooter. on the handlebars. He told Radio New Zealand that he "had sat down, spat a little blood and teeth and was back home" as a result of the accident. He would have been limited to a liquid diet during his recovery.
Lime said it has implemented firmware updates that "resulted in a significant reduction in the number of occurrences". A last update to solve the problem will apply to all scooters in the market in the coming days, the company said.
"The safety of people using electronic scooters and those who share the environment with them is our number one priority," Kimpton said of the suspension. "While we appreciate the equipment that scooters offer as an innovative transportation solution, safety is not negotiable."
Earlier this year, Lime pulled out in the streets of Switzerland after an unexpected braking of injured leftist riders, TechCrunch reported at the time. An email sent to customers and obtained by the site indicated that the company was investigating whether the problem resulted from a software update that had caused the restart of the scooters and caused protection against theft.
[Forbes]
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