On Tuesday 12 August at around 6:30 pm, my left wrist was shattered in an accident as I cycled on a quiet residential street near Elephant and Castle. At point blank range, directly ahead of me, a group of boys aged no more than 11 or 12 on Lime bikes shot straight into the road at speed without looking. With no time to brake, I slammed into the side of one of them. The impact crushed my front wheel and threw me over my handlebars.
The group of lads, none of whom were injured, stayed around for five minutes or so, more amused than remorseful, before leaving the scene. One kind fellow cyclist stayed with me, tying up the remains of my bike before waiting until my taxi arrived. At the hospital, an x-ray confirmed a bad fracture. A fortnight later, I had a metal plate and screws inserted during surgery. Months of recovery and interruptions to my normal routines lie ahead.
Being a good citizen, I filed a police report and contacted Lime. The police opened and closed the case (no CCTV, no hope of tracing the kids) and Lime launched an investigation. Their insurers have been in touch, but a top personal injury lawyer warned me not to get my hopes up.
Hire a Lime bike through the app and your journey is insured, covering the rider, the bike and any third parties. Lime policy is that only over-18s can rent one of its bikes. But I collided with a child who was either riding a Lime without paying (in effect, stealing it) or had an account (or was using someone else’s) contrary to Lime’s rules. Either way, he was uninsured.
There’s little reason why you’d have heard of the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB). Funded from everyone’s car insurance premiums and backed by section 95 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, if you are in an accident caused by an uninsured motor vehicle, the MIB steps in. Effectively, it is the insurer of last resort. But be in an accident with a stolen Lime bike and you’re on your own – the MIB does not cover uninsured rental e-bikes – nor is there an equivalent for micromobility.
Let’s be clear – I have no grudge against e-bikes. I have had a Lime account in the past. E-bikes have obvious positives (adding to transport options) and widely acknowledged negatives (dumping of bikes, reckless cycling). The drawbacks do not solely lie with Lime to fix – e-bike users also must take some responsibility. But Lime could do more to address areas where it is falling short.
Take the ease with which Lime bikes can be stolen. It would seem simple to prevent people pedalling off on one without paying. Yet Lime repeatedly seems incapable of stopping it, always one step behind those who’ve worked out another way to hack them. Ever wondered what that “clack, clack, clack” sound you sometimes hear on the street is? It’s someone on a stolen Lime bike.
Take Lime’s policy of renting bikes only to those over the age of 18. When setting up an account, you are asked to tick a box accepting Lime’s user agreement. Only if you click on this and scroll down quite some way do you come to a mention of the minimum age rule. And when hiring, no proof of ID to verify a user’s age is asked for. How many Lime bike users on London’s streets either lied about their age or didn’t read the user agreement and so are unaware that they are too young to be riding one?
Then there’s the question of those underage users “borrowing” an adult’s account. We already know from my recent experience that a child on a stolen Lime bike causing an accident isn’t insured. But what if it’s a child using an adult’s account or an account that includes false information? Is Lime’s insurance null-and-void? The kids I encountered didn’t hang around, and even if they’d volunteered names and addresses, the chances are they would have been be false.
Washing its hands of responsibility, Lime claimed that what happened to me was a police issue, as the theft of the bike was a criminal offence. But the company’s failure to get the details of those who steal its bikes makes it impossible to do anything.
The messiness surrounding what is and isn’t insured makes the case for universal insurance cover, whenever Lime bikes are in use and regardless of who is in the saddle. If this was the case, it would focus minds at Lime – overnight, I bet they’d triple efforts to prevent theft and dramatically tighten up age checks. Reducing theft would also help with the problem of dumped Lime bikes – Lime’s policy of fining users who recklessly leave bikes strewn across pavements is toothless for perpetrators that don’t have an account!
The problem is that without being dragged kicking and screaming, Lime won’t voluntarily take such steps. They will need to be mandated by an appropriate regulatory body. Alas, none of the obvious authorities have the required powers. Certainly not London’s 32 local authorities, left to make do the best they can with by-laws and enforcement regulations that were never intended for e-bikes. Neither does Transport for London. It has jurisdiction over black cabs, private hire vehicles, a trial of e-scooter trials and, coming soon, pedicabs, but it is powerless when it comes to e-bikes.
The law, as is often the case, is a decade behind. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon – the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill working its way through parliament includes new clauses (Part 2, clauses 23-29) designed to strengthen and simplify the regulation of micro-mobility providers. Credit where it’s due to TfL and London Councils for their constant lobbying.
Alas, this becoming law, let alone put into action, is some years away. No doubt Lime will fight a rearguard action. But if parliament does its job, e-bike providers will be licensed, subject to stricter rules on safety and usage, liable to penalties for failures and could even lose their licences. Hopefully, as part of this, the insurance gap my accident exposed will be closed.
In the meantime, until laws are passed more people will be injured and maybe even killed. While some journalists (such as Jim Waterson) have dug away at Lime’s failings, it’s sad to say that only a horrific fatality might force the pace of change that is desperately needed. But these aren’t risks we should be taking with the safety of Londoners. I’m a cyclist and pro-cycling, but until sufficient regulations are in place, I’m not convinced rental e-bikes should be on our streets.
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Many Londoners will have encountered terrifying near misses with Lime bikes and illegal e-bikes, as a pedestrian or road user.
And will be becoming aware of the yawning gaps in regulation along with the reality that too many cyclists of all forms now routinely ignore red traffic lights.
Oblivious also to any need to stick to the roadway when a handy pavement shortcut is available. This article should add to pressure on Lime and Forest to take their own steps to prevent thefts and misuse by underage children and teens.