Scooter Accident Leaves Woman in Vegetative State

Motorized scooters for rent have popped up in cities all across the United States. This popular form of transportation is easy to rent – simply find a scooter, use the app to scan it, pay the initial price, and then agree to a per-minute charge. When you reach your destination, simply leave the scooter there. As the popularity of such things has risen, so have the number of people injured. While many of the people injured are riders, pedestrians have also been injured. The user agreements from the rental companies recommend a helmet, but many jurisdictions have yet to agree to regulations requiring them. The Washington Post reports on a Florida woman left in a vegetative state after a scooter accident.

28-year-old Ashanti Jordan normally got a ride home from friends at the end of her shift as a security guard at Broward General Medical Center. However, one sunny day in late December, she decided to make the four-mile journey home on a scooter rented from the company Lime. She was about halfway home when she collided with a Toyota Corolla at an intersection.

The collision was violent and threw Jordan about 100 feet. She was left with broken bones, fractures to her ribs, and a catastrophic brain injury. A portion of her skull had to be surgically removed to lessen the pressure on her brain. Now, Jordan has begun having seizures and has been returned to the hospital’s intensive care unit, remaining in a persistent vegetative state.

Jordan’s mother recently announced that she is planning to sue Lime, the company that Jordan rented the scooter from, for negligence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently looking into the health risks posed by e-scooters.