Hello E-Bike Sudden Lock Leaves Chinese Student With Level-10 Disability as Police Fail to Retrieve Data

A Chinese doctoral student has reached a 215,000 yuan (US$30,000) compensation agreement with Chinese mobility company Hello after an e-bike suddenly lost power and locked its rear wheel, leaving him with a Level-10 disability.

The agreement was reached through mediation at the Xiang'an District People's Court in Xiamen, Fujian Province, on July 17, with the company required to make a one-time payment by July 31. The settlement came more than a year after the accident, Guancha.cn reported yesterday.

The student, surnamed Li, was riding a Hello e-bike to a laboratory in Xiamen on June 5, 2025, when the bike abruptly lost power. Its rear wheel locked, causing the bike to overturn and strike his right leg. Doctors diagnosed him with a lateral tibial plateau avulsion fracture, a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament and a torn lateral meniscus.

Five days after the accident, Xiamen traffic police issued a traffic accident certificate. Hello's vehicle inspection report also acknowledged that the bike had suffered a power failure and that the fault was linked to the user's fall and injuries.

Li said the company's initial compensation proposal amounted to only several hundred yuan through riding-related insurance. It later suggested waiting until he completed rehabilitation and a disability assessment before calculating compensation. Li rejected the proposal because his treatment could be lengthy and he might need a second operation.

Evidence collection became a major obstacle. Data on the vehicle's operating status, the time of the failure and the riding route were controlled by the platform. Traffic police tried repeatedly to obtain the platform's backend logs but were unable to retrieve them, according to Li.

Investigators ultimately used campus surveillance footage. The video showed Li riding at a steady speed on a largely empty road before the bike suddenly shook violently and overturned, helping rule out an ordinary riding fall and supporting the conclusion that a sudden vehicle fault caused the accident.

The Fujian Dingli Judicial Appraisal Center's Xiamen branch assessed Li's injuries as a Level-10 disability on December 9, 2025. He filed a civil lawsuit on Deccember 23, seeking 264,549.08 yuan for medical costs, disability compensation, lost income, emotional distress and appraisal fees.

Hello has not publicly responded to the latest reports.