Lime Class Action Lawsuit Says Scooters Block City Sidewalks

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A group of California residents have filed a Lime class action lawsuit alleging that the scooter company and the City of San Diego fail to keep crosswalks, transits stops, and sidewalks accessible for people with disabilities due to the parking of scooters.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, the California Disabled Persons Act, and the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

Scooter companies, which have popped up in recent months, use these public locations as places to store their bikes and electric scooters available for rent.

The Lime scooter class action lawsuit points out that the companies named as defendants have blocked the sidewalks with their “dockless” system that allows a rider to leave a scooter along curbs or public walkways at the end of the ride.

The plaintiffs in the Lime scooter class action lawsuit argue that private scooter companies have been able to use the public commons for their own businesses purposes, blocking locations that are critical for disabled accessibility.

The Lime electric scooter class action lawsuit says that the current scooter storage solution goes beyond that of a nuisance since those with severe visual impairments and those people who use walkers or wheelchairs are not able to safely or freely travel on public walkways.

The Lime scooter class action lawsuit argues that in addition to storing the scooters in the middle of sidewalks or at the corners or intersections, making it difficult for those with impairments to use the public walkways, that the fact that these scooters are used on sidewalks further blocks disabled access.

The lawsuit alleges that these scooter riders, who rent the devices for a certain period of time and drop them at a new location, turn the sidewalk into a vehicle highway instead of a space reserved for pedestrian access.

Both Bird Rides Inc. and Lime Razor USA LLC as well as the City of San Diego are named as defendants in this class action lawsuit.

The lead plaintiff in the Lime Scooter class action lawsuit, Alex Montoya, is a triple amputee who is unable to drive.

He states in the Lime class action lawsuit that he chose to live in the East Village of San Diego so that he could easily access pedestrian walkways.

The plaintiff argues that due to the popularity of these scooters, he finds himself dodging these devices at street crossings and on sidewalks from riders approaching at rapid rates of speed with no warning.

The Lime Scooter class action lawsuit claims that Montoya now avoids walking because of the fear of being hit by someone riding a scooter.

With a slower reaction time and ability to walk, the plaintiff argues that he relied on these sidewalks as his main mode of transportation that he can no longer access since he doesn’t feel safe walking.

The Lime scooter class action lawsuit seeks to represent a proposed Class of all individuals with visual or mobility impairments who have been denied access to pedestrian crossings, walkways, transit stops, curb ramps, and sidewalks in San Diego.

The proposed Class in the Lime electric scooter class action lawsuit are represented by Michael I. Neil, Robert W. Frank, Matthew R. Souther, and Phillip E. Stephan of Neil Dymott Frank McCabe & Hudson and Ann E. Menasche and Ben Conway of Disability Rights California.

The Lime Electric Scooter Class Action Lawsuit is Alex Montoya, et al. v. City of San Diego, et al., Case No. 3:19-cv-0054-JM-BGS, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.