Lime scooter retrieved from Auckland beach rusty and barnacled

Tuesday, 6 November 2018

Only three weeks after launching, several Lime electric scooters have washed up on Auckland beaches.

A Lime scooter, covered with rust and with barnacles growing on the handlebars, has washed up on an Auckland beach, only three weeks after the e-scooter-share scheme was launched.

Another two Lime scooters turned up outside the permitted city area, at West Auckland's Piha Beach.

North Shore woman Tess McGregor found the Lime scooter washed up between Westwell Reserve and St Leonard's Beach, near Devonport, on Saturday.

'Looks like it's been in the water for a while as [the] mudguard is rusted and barnacles are growing on the handle,' McGregor said.

The Lime scooter, which washed up on a beach north of Devonport, will be collected by a member of Lime's local operations team.

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Auckland man Zane Catterall's dog, Hollie, checks out the Lime scooter, which washed up on a beach north of Devonport.

She hauled the heavy electric scooter up the beach from the wet sand when the tide was low, but said it wasn't in a good way.

'It was so surprising to see it [washed up on the beach]. It's a shame that there are some people out there that treat things with disrespect,' McGregor said.

She was told it could have been thrown off a cliff into the ocean.

McGregor believed the intentions of Lime were good, so was disappointed to have found the scooter in this condition.

McGregor was also concerned water damage to the scooter's battery may leak toxins into the environment.

One of two runaway scooters grazing in the Piha beach car park.

However, when asked if it was likely the scooter would leak toxins after being in the water a long time, Lime Launcher Hank Rowe said, 'All Lime products are GPS and 3G-enabled, making it easy to track their location, if needed, so scooters are not likely to be missing for extended periods of time.'

The majority of Lime users respect the products and love the service, Rowe said in a statement, adding cases of people purposely damaging the scooters were very rare and there had been fewer than five cases.

An Onzo bike lodged in a tree in Brewster Ave, Mt Albert in Auckland.

In cases where a scooter was damaged, a member of Lime's local operations team collected them and took them to a workshop for maintenance. Salvageable materials were then used on other scooters.

When asked what other weird places Lime scooters had ended up, Rowe said, 'These kinds of reports are rare and in most cases [scooters are] retrieved before a report has been made.

A Lime scooter washed up on an Auckland beach, between Westwell Reserve and St Leonard's Beach steps, shows barnacles growing on the handlebars.

However, a pair of the scooters were also spotted in the Piha beach carpark on Sunday, more than 25km from the 'geofence' which ensured users parked within the boundaries.

The two scooters remained at the beach for more than a day and Piha local Phil Wallis said he saw a few people 'joy riding' around the car park.

According to Lime's operational plan, if a rider attempted to end their trip outside of the boundary, they would receive a notification that they could be fined.

Lime juicers were paid to travel across the city collecting flat scooters.

Bike-sharing service Onzo, launched earlier this year, had also had their yellow-and-black bikes end up in trees, creeks, attached to a crane and urban legend said they had been used by a drug-peddling gang of homeless people.

One of the bikes even ended up on TradeMe. The seller, safa5, was requesting $100 for the 'road bike in very good condition', with pick up being available in Westmere.

The listing was withdrawn and the user's account deleted from TradeMe.

In the first few weeks after Californian company Lime launched its fleet of 1000 scooters, by November 5, ACC had received 89 claims for scooter related injuries– 57 in Auckland and 32 in Christchurch.

Head injuries, collapsed lungs, fractured bones, severe facial trauma, bruises, gashes to the head and tooth loss were some of the injuries people had received after trying out the scheme.

ACC senior injury prevention specialist Kirsten Malpas said electric scooters were an innovative solution to modern commuting challenges and can provide a great way to make your commute active.

However, wearing a helmet, limiting speed and keeping to road rules were the best ways to keep safe, Malpas said.

'The challenge from a safety perspective is how people use e-scooters.

'If people take a knock to the head, it's important that they recognise the symptoms of concussion and let a medical professional make an assessment and diagnosis. Late onset after an injury is common.'

Auckland mayor Phil Goff is responding to safety concerns by requesting a report from Auckland Transport and Auckland Council on issues.

'That will help inform what sort of regulatory regime we might have to balance the interests of a good way of getting around town … and the need to have some common sense safety requirements.'