Opinion: Review of Lime Scooters insurance is essential

A review of the Lime user agreement demonstrates that the scooter driver is effectively uninsured and carrying the liability at his or her own risk, writes lawyer Stephen Kerin.

WHEN you’re zipping down Queen Street Mall in excess of 10km/h on your spritely Lime Scooter, consider the following scenario – you run into an elderly lady, she is bowled over, breaks her hip, is carted away in an ambulance to hospital, later develops a blood clot from the hip problem, has complications, and dies.

Alternatively, what if it is not an senior citizen, but instead a fit, 45-year-old father of three who ends up with a brain injury after smashing his head on the concrete pavement after being hit by the scooter?

What liability attaches to this scooter rider, and what rights does the injured person have?

A review of the Lime user agreement demonstrates that the scooter driver is effectively uninsured and carrying the liability at his or her own risk.

So where does this leave you, the unassuming Lime Scooter rider, the injured elderly lady and the father of three?

My opinion is, in short, up the creek without a paddle.

Lime scooters have proved a hit in inner Brisbane.

The lack of protection for Lime Scooter users exists in direct and stark contrast to our comprehensive third-party motor vehicle insurance scheme, which covers road users of motor vehicles, motor cycles, and trucks.

There is, therefore, no public utility insurance protecting ordinary pedestrians lawfully going about their business from any realistic cause of action for compensation, should they be injured by a negligent Lime Scooter operator.

Lime itself is a US corporation known as Neutron Holdings Inc. So when you hire a scooter, you are actually contracting with an American company agreeing to pay them in US dollars and agreeing to be entirely, absolutely, 100 per cent responsible for your use of the scooter, or its abuse, in terms of any potential accident or mishap. This is the worst kind of rampant American capitalism where no care and no responsibility is taken for victims.

It is entirely foreign to each and every Australian jurisdiction in which comprehensive insurance cover is a social utility insurance for road users and workers in their workplace via the WorkCover Legislation.

It is reported these scooters can travel at 27km/h – a suicidal speed on a footpath where your average pedestrian would be walking at 4km to 5km/h in congested daily circumstances.

A Lime scooter in Adelaide

Our experience is that a catastrophic accident will certainly happen to someone as a consequence of the negligent use of one of these scooters.

This is going to result in the exposure of the uninsured liability of the operator of the scooter. It will also reveal that injured persons have no right of recourse to any effective insurance fund, which may meet their compensatory needs.

It is our view that there is no place for these scooters on our congested footpaths in the CBD.

If you’re going to use one, be assured that you do so at your own risk, and one momentary lapse of judgment could result in your becoming bankrupt.

Of course, this is not to mention the maiming of an innocent pedestrian.

The potential ramifications of a casual Lime Scooter ride through the city is, under the current Agreement, concerning indeed.

It is possible, but by no means certain, that a rider might have some recourse against a claim under his or her householder’s insurance policy but, as seen in the recent floods, cover is problematic.

Brisbane City Council has apparently given the company two weeks’ notice to demonstrate the safety of the scooters’ operation but the issue of liability is equally, if not more, important and must be addressed.

Stephen Kerin is a principal at Kerin Lawyers