Chinese bike-sharing startup sued after death of minor

The parents of a child who died in a traffic accident

while riding an Ofo share bike in Shanghai have sued the fast-growing

start-up for financial compensation.

The victim, a

fourth-grade primary school student under the age of 12, managed to

unlock an Ofo bike on March 26 and was riding along with friends before

being struck and run over by a bus, according to Chinese media reports.

The child died after being taken to hospital.

Following

an investigation, local traffic police determined that the child was

riding down the wrong side of the road and bore "primary responsibility"

for the accident, the reports said.

As the first case of its kind in China, the lawsuit

tests the legal responsibility of Ofo when underage children access

their bicycles, which have become more and more common across the

country's major cities.

Chinese traffic regulations

stipulate that children must be at least 12 years old to ride bicycles

on public roads. But through the parents' lawyer, Zhang Qianlin, the

family said Ofo should take responsibility given that its bikes are

unsupervised and readily available in public spaces. They also claim

that the bikes' locks are inadequate.

The bikes posed a "great hidden risk to safety", the

family said, as reported by the China Youth Daily on Saturday. There

have been at least two deaths and more than 10 injuries involving

children riding Ofo bikes, the report said, raising questions over

increased government scrutiny and regulation in the fast-growing market.

"We

hope that given share bikes have already become a fixture of city

transportation, that (ride-share) platform responsibilities are

clarified," Zhang told the newspaper, adding thata push for more

government regulation could prevent similar tragedies from happening.

The booming Chinese bike-sharing company and its main

rival Mobike did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

Bike-share users in China numbered around 20 million in 2016 and are

expected to reach 198 million by 2021, according to a report by the firm

Research and Markets.

Ofo, known for its trademark

yellow bikes, has expanded to 100 cities worldwide since its founding in

2014, 70 of which were added this year alone. Earlier this month it

raised more than 700 million US dollars in its latest funding round.