She fractured her neck falling off a Lime scooter and is calling for regulations

Sunday, 16 December 2018

A woman who fractured her neck after coming off a Lime scooter in Auckland is calling for better regulations, out of fears somebody will be killed on one. 

British woman and former Lime-scooter lover Amy Gianfrancesco was just 150 metres away from her Grey Lynn home when she came off a Lime and ended up on the pavement with a fractured neck, chipped tooth and serious bruising.

She was knocked unconscious in the fall and was found lying in the street by a member of the public.

'I'd gone out to play mini golf at Holey Moley and we had a few drinks, after which we headed home because it was a weeknight, we got out of the taxi on Great North Road and some of the people I was with went to McDonald's,' she said. 

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She decided to make her way home from McDonald's and left the group. 

Details of what came next are hazy, but Gianfrancesco's Lime app history showed she hopped on a Lime on Great North Road and then turned the corner to King Street, where she lives. 

'I'm not sure how I came off the scooter but I was unconscious and was found by a member of the public just after 1am,' she said. 

She woke up in hospital in excruciating pain where she had a CT scan and x-rays to identify the extent of her injuries. 

'It was taking a lot of people to lift me around because they had to be careful with your spine, so there were about six people trying to manouevre me on and off beds and things.'

Gianfrancesco said she will be in the brace for the next six weeks and she is unable to work or drive during that time.

To make matters worse, Gianfrancesco was due to fly home to Wales for Christmas next week so special arrangements have been made with Air NZ for the 24-hour flight which has been booked for months. 

As a result of her accident, Gianfrancesco is calling for tighter regulations around the popular e-scooters, suggesting they are 'locked' at night or removed from the street so intoxicated people are unable to use them. 

She proposed that helmets should be mandatory and the maximum speed be reduced. 

Hospital staff she had spoken with echoed her concerns, she said.

'They told me they are treating people of all ages who have come off the Limes,and not just drunk people, from the young to the elderly, people with brain bleeds and other very serious injuries.'

She said the 'general consensus' among the hospital staff she had spoken with is that nothing will be done to improve safety of the scooters 'until somebody dies'.

'Before my accident I was under the impression that the scooters were put away for the night or unable to be used after a certain time, but that wasn't the case,' she said. 

Another media outlet published a story about Gianfrancesco's accident, after which she received a 'nasty message on Instagram from a random girl'.

'I'm a grown woman and I'm not trying to blame the scooter for what happened when I was under the influence of alcohol,' she said. 

'I got on the scooter on my own free will as I have half a dozen times before, all I am trying to do is raise awareness of the real dangers of Limes and what can happen when anyone rides them regardless of whether they are young, old, sober, drunk, regular users or new users.'

She said she shared her story in the hope it might convey the message that there needs to be more regulation around the e-scooters.

'If this story can make just one person stop and think before getting on a scooter and avoid injury or death, then great,' she said.