*By Hope King and Jacqueline Corba* The first two known fatalities involving wildly popular Lime electric scooters occurred this month within weeks of one other. When asked whether such incidents are inevitable, Emily Warren, Lime's senior director of policy and public affairs said, "The reality of the transportation business is that you always have to be prepared for safety issues." On Sept. 2, a 24-year old man in Dallas, Tex., who was riding a scooter died after he suffered injuries that [may have been sustained](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/09/04/police-man-dies-after-apparent-electric-scooter-accident/?utm_term=.e3a9007e0c1d) after he fell off his two-wheeler. Nearly three weeks later on Sept. 21 in Washington, D.C., a 20-year old man riding a scooter fatally [collided with an SUV](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/emergency-workers-try-to-rescue-pedestrian-trapped-under-suv-in-dupont-circle/2018/09/21/aec71252-bdaa-11e8-be70-52bd11fe18af_story.html?utm_term=.0f23ae97278d). "Safety is a critical priority for a company like Lime," Warren said. "We always want to be providing as much education as we can to our riders and do everything we can in the product to make it as safe of an experience as possible for them." The fatalities coincide with the efforts by Lime and other electric scooter companies to legitimize the business to cities and local government. Lime, which has been operating for 14 months, recently hit [11.5 million rides](https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/20/lime-hits-11-5-million-bike-and-scooter-rides/) and is present in more than 100 markets in the U.S. and Europe. Competitor Bird has facilitated [more than 10 million rides](https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/20/17878676/electric-scooter-bird-lime-uber-lyft) in its first year of operation and is also present in over 100 cities. Both companies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars, and both have private market valuations above $1 billion. Their growth is, by no means, slowing. Lime plans to expand to at least 50 more markets before the end of the year, Warren said. But in order to improve safety measures, Warren said the company will continue to investigate ways to work with cities, "educate" scooter riders and motorists on sharing roads, and distribute helmets. "In any moment like this, you want to pause at the company and be thoughtful about whether we can do more," she said. "We've always instructed folks to use helmets and encourage them to do so, let them know about their state and local laws." For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-e-scooters-are-transforming-commuter-behavior).
