Elizabeth City Council takes e-scooters off streets after accident that killed teen
ELIZABETH, New Jersey (WABC) -- Elizabeth's City Council has voted to remove all Lime e-scooters from its streets and end a pilot program following an accident that killed a teenager last week.
The company was given 48 hours to remove all 154 e-scooters.
At a raucous council meeting Tuesday night, people demanded action.
"I'll tell you what you're gonna do about it, you're going to stop the Lime corporation from doing business in our great city," said one resident.
16-year-old Nelson Mirando Gomez was on a rented Lime e-scooter when he was struck and killed by a tow truck making a blind right hand turn onto South Spring Street from Elizabeth Avenue.
Some warned the City Council there would be trouble before the tragedy, but the council went ahead.
Tuesday night, each council member reflected on the vote in favor of the pilot program that allowed the scooters.
"Out of all the votes I've taken since I've been on council, I think this is one of the ones that I regret the most and I won't be making that same mistake again," one council member said.
Following the vote to terminate the contract with Lime, the company issued a statement that said, "We're disappointed that the Elizabeth City Council has decided to suspend the e-scooter pilot program, but we hope to work with the city on a revised program."
The city had just launched its scooter program at the beginning of this month, releasing photos of officers who will be patrolling on them.
The scooters in the city cost $1 to unlock, plus 20 cents per minute to ride.
As part of a revenue sharing agreement with Lime, the city receives 10 cents per ride, which offsets the cost of policing the scooters.
It is against Lime's user agreement for any rider to be under the age of 18.
Several other New Jersey cities also have scooter programs, including Hoboken, which has started patrolling scooter riders.
In one incident there, an Oja scooter collided with a mother and baby.
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