Lime or lemon? KC should dock electric scooters until safety concerns are addressed

Lime, the electric scooter company that descended on Kansas City in September, is ducking questions amid a recall and multiplying safety concerns.

Lime decommissioned its Okai-brand electric scooters after reports that they can break apart while in use. It’s another setback for a company that recently pulled a Segway scooter model off the streets because of a battery defect that could cause a fire.

The potential dangers only add to a growing list of questions about the safety of scooters on city streets.

Lime and competitor Bird are responsible for maintenance and safety of their dockless scooters. But Lime won’t say which models have been deployed on Kansas City streets or how many of the scooters here have been decommissioned.

If city officials know the answer, they aren’t saying.

“Any potential recall-related issues are the responsibility of the company,” a spokesman for the city said.

The city, which has the ability to regulate the scooters, should force the issue, though, and ensure that riders are fully informed about the recall and any other safety issues. Instead, city officials have passed the buck to Lime, which continues to dodge simple questions.

Lime asserts the majority of its fleet is not subjected to the recall. The defective scooters are being replaced with third-generation models — newer, more advanced scooters considered best in class for safety, the company says.

But riders have no way of knowing for certain if the models in question have been docked. At least three different representatives for the company issued the same vague, pre-packaged statement to The Star.

“We are actively looking into reports that scooters manufactured by Okai may break and are working cooperatively with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the relevant agencies internationally to get to the bottom of this,” one spokesperson after another told The Star this week.

Lime is not required to tell us more. So riders in Kansas City remain in the dark about the popular dockless scooters. The lack of communication is disappointing — and ultimately could be bad for business.

Kansas City is one of only a few cities in America with both Lime and Bird, which has not recalled its scooters.

The decision to withhold information is Lime’s prerogative. But repeating company talking points doesn’t make the problem go away.

Now, after Lime has recalled one model with batteries that could catch fire and another that could break apart while in use, the city should temporarily dock the company’s scooters until a third party has deemed the entire fleet safe.

And in the meantime, riders should proceed with extreme caution.

This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 5:30 AM.