A 12-year-old boy riding an e-scooter died after colliding with a pedestrian and falling into the path of an oncoming bus causing horrified people to tell the driver to stop, an inquest was told.
Mustafa Nadeem was the first tragic death in 100 million Voi operated rides globally.
The schoolboy was riding the e-scooter on a pavement near a crossing when he collided with a pedestrian who had got off a bus on the B4128 in Bordesley Green at 7.58am on December 6, last year.
Detective sergeant Paul Hughes, from West Midlands Police, told the hearing at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner’s Court that the bus and the rider were travelling well below the speed limit.
The bus driver said he was travelling at 8mph, the inquest was told.
A pedestrian said he felt a bump on his elbow before the crash as he waited at a traffic lights crossing and witnesses says they saw the collision before feeling “vibrations on the bus”.
People were then heard shouting “stop the bus,” reported BirminghamLive.
Professor Adrian Warfield said a digital post-mortem examination was carried out with the youngster found to have suffered blunt force chest trauma, upper limb fractures and generalised contusions, abrasions and lacerations.
The medical cause of death is recorded as “multiple injuries.”
The hearing was told that the Voi account used to unlock the e-scooter had initially belonged to a man over the age of 18. Mustafa’s friend used his dad’s Voi account and then transferred it onto his phone.
He then used his under 16s bank account to pay for rides. The hearing was told that Mustafa “persistently” asked his 14-year-old friend to unlock the e-scooter, which he eventually did.
Voi said there was no way to identify the user’s age from bank account used to hire the e-scooter. It said changes to accounts can now only be made three times in six-months and users can be blocked.
Voi’s UK’s general manager Jack Samler said the Voi trials started in 2020. The trial was always going to end in Birmingham in February 2023 and not as a result of Mustafa’s death.
Asked if he was aware of children were using e-scooters illegally, Mr Sadler said: “It is of concern. It’s difficult to say if this is endemic or isolated.
“Voi take this very seriously and do continually challenge ourselves on how to prevent underage riding of our e-scooters.”
Mr Samler said a driving licence is used along with a selfie to verify the age of the Voi e-scooter rider at point of registration. This was set up by Mustafa’s friend’s dad in September 2022.
The account was later transferred to Mustafa’s friend’s phone. A verification code would have been sent to the dad’s phone.
Trials in other locations in England and Wales are due to run until May 2024. They could then be extended or legalised. A different e-scooter provider will be operating the trial in Birmingham later this year.
A tribute given by the family said that Mustafa was “one of a kind.”
Coroner James Bennett read out a pen portrait. He was described as a “young, loving boy of the Bordesley Green community. One of a kind, a child who always had a smile on his face.”
Mustafa was “treasured and had a pure and innocent soul” and a “friendly and respectful boy".
