Recently, a USC student was involved in a serious accident while riding a Lime scooter. We spoke to students about the safety of these electric scooters and whether they will continue to trust them for their daily commute. Sam Reno has more.
Earlier, USC student and treasurer of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity Ty Kawamura was riding a Lime scooter on 28th Street near Frat Row. An SUV struck him. Kawamura suffered multiple injuries, including skull fractures, a torn liver, and a collapsed lung, as a result of the accident.
USC student Trish Bazari is a friend of Kawamura.
TRISH BAZARI: It was it’s been pretty life changing. I would say it was really horrific, getting a FaceTime call from him while he was in the hospital and him yelling for help and just seeing his face on the camera, absolutely bleeding from everywhere. We still don’t know if this is going to impact him for the rest of his life. We hope not, but we’re just hoping for the best.
This isn’t the first electric scooter injury this month. According to DPS logs, five electric scooter related accidents have occurred so far this month. All five accidents involved a motor vehicle.
The heightened risk is not lost on Bazari and his friends, who say they won’t be riding again any time soon.
TRISH BAZARI: I love scooter’s. Always rode them. Used to do it this semester with all my best friends too, and just don’t get on them. I’m, I’m never doing it again and I hope no one else will either.
For others, like USC freshman Gavin Roberts, the dangers of these personal modes of transportation, like Lime’s electric scooters, are largely avoidable with some care and attention.
GAVIN ROBERTS: I think every time that I’ve really been in a crash or an accident has been when I wasn’t paying attention or when I was dozing off or looking at something in the distance.
Despite the recent incidents, Roberts will keep riding.
GAVIN ROBERTS: Me personally, I feel comfortable riding an electric scooter. I feel safe doing it. I have coordination. I don’t feel at risk when riding one.
USC grad student Courtney Call has ridden with Lime before, and she shares Roberts sentiment that safety is largely in the hands of the rider.
COURTNEY CALL: I think it really depends on you, on how you ride it. So you’re very responsible for your own safety on it. And so if you want to be very safe, it’s not that hard, but you can easily also be very reckless with it.
She also hopes that the university takes active steps to ensure the safety of the growing population of riders.
COURTNEY CALL: I don’t know much about the accident, so I can’t really speak to that, but I think maybe if the university wanted to make it bigger or have people use them more often, they could build more structures specifically for Limes, and that would make it a lot safer if someone is rushing to class or something.
Other universities, such as San Diego State University, have moved to ban all motorized scooters, but pushback forced them to settle on stricter restrictions and “no-ride zones.”
USC’s current rules regarding electric scooters only force riders to adhere to California vehicle laws, which state riders must use the road and not exceed the 15 mph speed limit. Their use is also prohibited in crowded areas such as the USC Village.