Los Angeles, CA – Mary 19, 2020 – Scooter rental company Bird was sued in Los Angeles Superior Court in a mass action lawsuit alleging the company deploys poorly manufactured scooters throughout Santa Monica and fails to properly maintain those same scooters.
Based in Santa Monica, CA, Bird is known for its goal of making cities more livable by reducing car usage, traffic, and congestion. However, countless riders of Bird scooters have recounted numerous and severe injuries including shattered kneecaps, broken wrists, dislocated shoulders and more stemming from serious mechanical errors in Bird devices. Over two dozen named plaintiffs are listed in the complaint complaining of:
- Injuries Caused by Defective Throttles
- Injuries Caused by Defective Brakes
- Injuries Caused by Defective Wheels
- Scooter Suddenly Stopping/Injuries Caused by Geofencing
- Injuries Caused by Defective Handlebars
“Bird has been cutting corners for years with its scooters, plain and simple,” said attorney Mike Arias. “Nationwide, people have suffered serious injuries, required emergency room care, expensive surgeries and ongoing therapy because this “gig economy” company has been ignoring its customers’ health while it rakes in profits.”
The plaintiffs named in the complaint had their very lives put at risk as they had brake or throttle failures while they were near moving cars and trucks. Several of the plaintiffs had injuries so severe they required surgery for broken wrists, tibias, fibulas, feet, ankles and more.
In addition to the poorly made scooters (manufactured by Xiaomi and Segway), the complaint alleges that Bird does little to no maintenance of these scooters and actually incentivizes its workers to not reporter broken or dysfunctional scooters.
Bird employs “chargers” to pick up the Bird scooters and charge them at their own residence, eventually putting the scooter back into public rotation when charged. These chargers are not paid by Bird until the scooter is charged and put back into rotation and they are not paid if they inform Bird that the scooter is defective and needs to be removed from circulation.
Examples of Injuries Caused by Bird Scooters
- Christopher Dacey, a Bird mechanic, shattered his left knee when the brakes failed on a Bird scooter while he was conducting a 12-step diagnostic test. His injuries required four surgeries.
- Lisa Beardslee suffered a fractured wrist, road rash and injuries to her neck and shoulder when a Bird scooter’s brakes failed at the intersection of San Vicente Blvd and La Brea Ave.
- Robyn Cardy broke her collarbone in three places when her Bird scooter’s brakes malfunctioned and threw her to the ground abruptly.
- Bianca Faura had the brakes on her Bird scooter fail as she was going downhill. She was thrown from the scooter and suffered multiple tibia fractures requiring surgery and hardware.
The plaintiffs are from New York, Texas, Florida, California, Missouri, Maryland and all around the United States.
The case is Dunya Abbo et al. v. Bird Rides, Xiamoi USA, Segway Inc., Los Angeles Superior Court.
About Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Team, LLP
With offices in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Las Vegas and Montreal, Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Team represents clients in complex litigation in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Some of our practice areas include: Class Actions, Mass Torts, Major Personal Injury, Employment Law, and Intellectual Property Rights. To learn more about us, go to: www.aswtlawyers.com.
