An Edmonton man is left with unanswered questions and a hefty bill after a person driving a shared e-scooter crashed into his trailer, damaging it. Roman Greschuk was at his home in Athlone when he heard a loud bang around 10:30 p.m. on a Sunday night. “I went to look, see what was wrong, and found a person laying on the street right beside my trailer,” Greschuk told CTV News Edmonton. “I realized something was seriously wrong – she was hurt, bleeding.” Greschuk called 911 and she was treated by paramedics. He has tried to reach the woman but hasn’t heard from her or the man she was with at the time of the incident. “None of them have reached out to me in any way to let me know what happened … I was hoping that she’d be OK,” Greschuk said, adding that he was hoping to recover some damages to his trailer. Greschuk also reached out to Lime Micromobility, the company that owns the scooter, informing them of the incident and that he had the scooter in his backyard. Lime said they would get back to him within 14 days. About a week later, Greschuk found that the scooter was missing. He said someone from Lime went into his yard when he wasn’t home and took the scooter. “They didn’t even give me a courtesy call to say they were coming into my yard,” said Greschuk. “Once they had the scooter, they sent me a letter stating they weren’t responsible for anything.” Without the scooter or enough information to create a civil case, Greschuk is left with a damaged trailer that could cost thousands of dollars to repair and the uncertainty of legal ramifications coming back to him. “There has to be more restrictions on how these things are rented, the liabilities for people who damage cars, trucks, even trailers or personal property,” said Greschuk. Lawyer Geoffrey Brisbin says Lime would be responsible in the event that one of its e-scooters malfunctioned or was not operating according to basic maintenance or safety standards. If the person operating the e-scooter made an error, they would be liable for causing damages unless they had tertiary insurance. “Oftentimes, that is not the case with Lime scooter operators,” said Brisbin. “Oftentimes, they are teenagers. “It’s a bit of a grey area, which is unfortunate given how common and prevalent they are.” Greschuk has reported the incident, which is considered a motor vehicle crash, and police are investigating. He says even with insurance, he’ll have to pay out of pocket for some of the repairs, which are currently estimated at about $1,000 but could increase if further damage is found. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Curtis Goodrum
