BORDEAUX: A 25-year-old man was killed and a young woman was seriously injured on Sunday in the western French city of Bordeaux after a car hit their electric scooter before fleeing the scene, the police said.

The accident brings to at least six the number of people killed in collisions involving e-scooters since the zippy devices began popping up in ride-sharing schemes around the country in mid-2019.

Sunday’s incident took place in the early hours of the morning on the banks of the Garonne river in central Bordeaux.

The male scooter rider was pronounced dead at the scene.

His female companion, aged 18, was rushed to hospital in critical condition.

The last few months have seen a rash of deadly accidents involving the widely popular two-wheelers, which have revolutionised urban mobility.

Nearly all the victims were scooter riders in their twenties but the first fatality was an 81-year-old man, who died after being knocked over by a scooter in the Paris suburb of Levallois.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2019