The low down on under-aged 'Liming'

Tuesday, 30 October 2018

Children, some of whom almost couldn't see over the handle bars, have been spotted using the motorised scooters.

Schools and parks have become electric scooter strong-holds as 'Liming' reaches cult status among youths.

Liming has reached cult status among youths, with e-scooter races, jousting and demolition derby events planned across the city

But while underground groups plan e-scooter racing, jousting and demolition derby events – critics have been questioning the company's ability to enforce the above-18-year-old user restriction.

Californian company Lime dropped 600 electric scooters in Auckland and 400 in Christchurch on October 15.

Since then, there have been 38 ACC claims from injuries that were e-scooter-related – 27 in Auckland and 11 in Christchurch.

* Auckland Mayor orders urgent scooter safety probe after councillor almost hit

* ACC receives 38 electric scooter-related injuries two weeks after share scheme launch

* The lowdown on Lime Scooters, New Zealand's newest transport trend**

To become a rider, one simply needs to download the Lime app, sign up driver's licence and credit card details, agree to the terms and conditions, and scoot away.

The rules state drivers should be 18 years or older and they should wear helmets. Riding two on one scooter, on the sidewalks or downhills is prohibited.

But among the frequent users are teenagers and children, some of whom struggle to even see over the handle bars.

The lime app showed nearly 20 e-scooters were located at Baradene College of the Sacred Heart on Monday.

Auckland

Last week a 16-year-old girl was left with a broken wrist, nose and teeth and a 13-year-old boy suffered road rash across his back after two separate e-scooter crashes in Auckland.

Christchurch's Red Sapwell questioned Lime's apparent drop off zone outside the Westburn children's park.

The 16-year-old Epsom Girls Grammar student said she 'went over a driveway and literally flew off, and injured my whole body'.

The boy's mother said that in true 13-year-old boy fashion, he had downloaded the app and used her credit card without her permission.

She raised the point that Lime had absolutely no way of enforcing their own rules and were therefore being bad service providers.

The e-scooters were popular across Auckland and Christchurch.

In a video supplied to Stuff, students of Baradene College can be seen zooming past each other on the school's tennis courts during what appears to be break time.

The shooter of the video was spotted crouching low on the scooter while others flew past her. One scooter had two people on it.

Christchurch

Ilam's Red Sapwell questioned Lime's apparent drop-off zone outside the Westburn children's park.

'This is where kids learn to ride push-type bikes, scooters, trikes and bikes. Who is the intellectual giant who thinks that scooters that can travel at 27kmh is going to be a good mix with these little ones?

'Last night … the eldest user was about 16 and the youngest who was in pyjamas about 6.

'One girl of about 10 ended up face planting on the grassed area because she was going far too fast and could not take the corner of the path.'

He said a young boy of about 4 was knocked sideways when struck a glancing blow.

Shirley's Ray Jack even wrote an open letter Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel, complaining about the scooters after encountering two being ridden on a shared pathway by young siblings.

'My encounter involved stopping a very young rider, perhaps 10 years old or so, and telling him you had to be 18 to ride one.

E-scooter company Lime launched in New Zealand with hundreds of scooters scattered across Auckland and Christchurch. (Video first published in October 2018)

'This is an accident waiting to happen, and the consequences could be dire.'

So, are under-aged users allowed to ride them?

Yes and no.

Lime's legally binding T&Cs expressly prohibit users under the age of 18 from using the e-scooters.

Likewise, people who give access to minors are liable for all damages occurred – this can reach up to $US1500 ($NZ2299) if the scooter is vandalised, lost, stolen or damaged.

A further pick up fee of $US25 ($NZ38) and service fee of $US120 ($NZ183) can be charged without notice at Lime's discretion.

However, Auckland authorities said the company's age restriction was unable to be physically enforced.

'Under the national road user rules, there is no legal age restriction to use e-scooters,' said Auckland Council and Auckland Transport jointly.

'Enforcement of the road user rules is generally undertaken by NZ Police.'

The two organisations did, however, support Lime's condition of being 18 years or over to use the e-scooter service.

New Zealand Lime launcher Cameron Swanson said by having rules and regulations on its app that needed to be agreed to by users, Lime was 'making sure they are complying with our terms'.

However, he acknowledged that young people 'could be using their parents' account or parents' credit card, or whatever the case may be'.

'In which case, a parent would be agreeing to those terms and falsifying what they agreed to.

'There's not a whole lot we can do if people are sharing accounts or sharing credit cards,' he said.

'This is going to end in death'

Clive Matthew-Wilson, outspoken motoring critic and editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, said he feared there would be fatal e-scooter accidents.

'This is going to end in death … you have e-scooters with poor handling and poor brakes weaving at high speeds along footpaths used by young children and old people. You have e-scooter riders weaving through fast-moving traffic.

'If the e-scooter promoters want their vehicles to use our roads, let them pay for scooter lanes and other safety improvements, including helmets.

'They always claim that it's up to the user to take care when it should be up to the promoters to prove their products are safe before they are released onto the market.'