From about September 4, 2018 – October 4, 2018, The City of Spokane is doing a pilot study with Lime. The Lime bikes and scooters will return in spring of 2019 assuming all goes well.
We now have Lime Bikes, Lime E bikes (electric bikes) and Lime Scooters. The Lime products are opened with the Lime app on your phone and are dockless, meaning they can be dropped off anywhere. To locate a Lime Bike or Scooter, a user simply opens the app to see a map which displays the bikes and scooters nearby.
Regular Lime Bikes cost $1 per 30 minutes, and students and college faculty get them half off. Lime Electric Bikes and Scooters both cost $1 to unlock and 15 cents per minute.
Injuries on Lime
A lot of people hopping onto a scooter haven’t ridden one in years, and a lot of people getting onto an electric bike have never even ridden one before. Lime’s user agreement required riders to be 18 and sign a waiver to not hold Lime available for injuries people cause themselves. The scooters have small wheels and can buzz along at 15MPH, so injuries are to be expected. Users should wear helmets to help prevent skull fractures and traumatic brain injuries.
Injuries with cars
Of course, cyclists and scooterists use roadways and bike lanes and inevitably a negligent motorist is going to hit someone. If serious injuries occur, the injured victim should contact CCD Law, your Spokane Bike Accident Lawyer. Insurers do not like to pay cyclists what their injuries are worth and frequently attempt to blame them for their own injuries, so the call is a smart more as we’ll offer you a free consultation.
Pedestrians hit by Lime Riders
Unfortunately, in many cities Lime Scooter users zip down sidewalks at 15 miles per hour and accidentally crash into pedestrians. In these cases, injured pedestrians should make a note of the exact time and place they were injured and obtain a pic of the Lime user’s driver’s license and their contact information. In some cases, user’s insurance will kick in in the event they injured you. Contact us for details about that if the need arises.
Are helmets required?
Yes. Washington State has no law on bicycle helmets, however, the City of Spokane does. According to Spokane Municipal Code 10.17.030, “Any person riding or otherwise operating any bicycle, electric-assisted bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, in-line skates, roller skate(s), skate shoe(s), scooter or skateboard, including any passenger thereon and/ or person being towed thereby, on any public area in the City shall wear an approved helmet, and shall have either the neck or chin strap of the helmet fastened securely while the device is in motion.”
Lime’s terms of service also require a helmet. You’ll probably see very few people obeying this rule but think twice before riding without a helmet.
