‘No justice’: Lime refuse to compensate woman left with two spinal fractures after being hit by child on e-bike

The partner of a woman who needed multiple surgeries after being hit by a child on a Lime bike has described the company’s decision not to pay her compensation as “very unfair”.

Jane Ouartsi suffered a broken femur, broken collarbone and two spinal fractures when she was hit by a child riding a Lime bicycle in a pedestrianized square in central London in August 2023.

The driver, estimated to be around 10 years old, initially stopped but was later driven away from the scene by his mother, according to Ms Ouartsi’s partner, Dave Mathias. He said police later closed the investigation.

According to Mr Mathias, the couple had dined out and watched an art exhibition before Ms Ouartsi was suddenly struck by the bike: “The lime bike appeared out of nowhere at great speed and hit Jane directly,” he said. Independent. “It happened so fast. When I turned I saw Jane fall to the ground, it looked like it was in slow motion. She was screaming in pain.”

Mr Mathias, 63, said Ms Ouartsi suffered multiple fractures and was hospitalized for 28 days, living away from the couple’s living room for more than a year while she relearned to walk. he said Independent The incident was “very difficult to understand” for Ms Ouartsi, who she described as “not herself”.

“Even if we go to a local cafe, if he sees a bike he freezes,” he said. “If he hears something with wheels on it, or even a case being pulled, he freezes up. It’s very sad to see that.”

The couple, who live in Chelsea, reported the incident to Lime but said they were told that the vehicle could not be traced and therefore “there was nothing they could do”.

Meanwhile, Mr Mathias estimates he has lost more than £15,000 from having to take time off work to care for Ms Ouartsi, taxi fares to and from the hospital and the adjustments the couple have had to make in their lives.

Almost three years after the incident, Ms Ouartsi is still unable to walk unaided and both she and Mr Mathias continue to suffer emotional and mental distress from the trauma.

It is calling on Lime to introduce better safety measures for e-bikes in pedestrian areas and to pay “significant” compensation to ensure Ms Ouartsi can live comfortably despite her injuries.

“The implication of this is that they haven’t actually done anything,” he said. “I’m incredibly angry. This is so unfair.”

He also reached out to Sadiq Khan’s office to ask for bikes to be better regulated in London under the English Revolutionary Act, which recently received royal assent. This could give the mayor the power to impose restrictions on dockless e-bikes, which are currently under the remit of local authorities.

A Lime spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with Jane and her family and we are sorry for the distress this incident has caused. We take incidents such as this extremely seriously.”

“This situation was carefully reviewed and addressed in line with our policies. Safety informs everything we do at Lime, from how we design and maintain our vehicles to our driver training and how we work with cities.”