A man riding a Lime scooter along North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale died Thursday after colliding with a Mazda 6 sedan, authorities said.
The crash happened at about 11:27 p.m. in the northbound lanes of the 500 block, a neighborhood that is north of West Broward Boulevard and a few blocks south of Holiday Park.
The driver of the car stayed at the scene and no charges are expected to be filed, Fort Lauderdale Police spokeswoman Casey Liening said Friday.
“The scooter was in the roadway when it was struck by the vehicle,” Liening said.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue paramedics took the injured man to Broward Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Liening was checking to see if relatives had been notified of the man’s death before she released his name. He had been riding with a group of friends when the crash happened, Liening said.
“It’s unclear if they were also in the roadway,” Liening said.
The Broward County Medical Examiner’s office was performing an exam on Friday morning.
Electronic scooters are very popular in tourist destinations like Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Hollywood banned them in March before a proposed state law could undermine cities’ authority to regulate the devices.
As the scooters became popular, reports of injuries began surfacing. In December, a 14-year-old boy riding a scooter was left critically injured a block from Thursday night’s crash after he collided with a hit-and-run driver.
Also in December, a woman who worked in security at Broward Health Medical Center was riding a scooter and struck by a car at the intersection of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Fifth Street. She was left in a coma for at least six weeks, according to her family’s attorney, Todd Falzone.
In February, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said they had responded to at least 35 scooter injuries involving people ages 14 to 62. Four of those patients had traumatic injuries.
Riders use smartphone apps to rent the dockless scooters and find where prior riders have left them.
In Fort Lauderdale, riders are permitted to travel on sidewalks. The scooters go faster than pedestrians walk, and were banned from the barrier island during spring break and through April 16.
ljtrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta
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