Lime Scooters thought to be leaving skid marks on Christchurch's brand new paving

Monday, 7 January 2019

About 400 scooters, made and operated by California-based Lime, are spread throughout Christchurch and 500 in Auckland.

Hooligans abusing Lime scooters are thought to have caused black marks on new paving around Christchurch, including some of a phallic nature at a children's playground.

Since the electric scooters have been in town, the marks have appeared on the pavers in public spaces such as the Margaret Mahy Playground, Avon River precinct and Victoria Square.

It is understood the marks can be made deliberately using a burnout technique.

Black marks thought to have been made by hooligans doing skids on Lime scooters mar the path at Christchurch's Margaret Mahy playground.

Have you seen people doing burnouts on Lime scooters? Email newstips@stuff.co.nz

Videos on YouTube show people in other cities doing burnouts on the scooters, leaving black marks behind.

Black marks at Victoria Square, which reopened after a $7.6m rebuild in March.

Christchurch City Council transport operations manager Steffan Thomas said the council was not aware of the marks.

'If any clean-up is required this will be handled as part of our existing maintenance contracts.'

The marks on a pathway at the Margaret Mahy playground.

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There are currently about 700 Lime scooters in Christchurch operating on a three-month permit, for which the council charged Lime $136. They have been operating in Christchurch since mid-October.

Thomas said council staff would report on the trial to councillors in February, and had set up a working group to make sure that safety aspects of the trial had been addressed.

A Lime spokeswoman said Lime would not be commenting unless they were provided evidence the vandalism was committed by one of their riders.

The scooters are also on the streets of Auckland and the Hutt Valley. Spokespeople from both councils said they were not aware of any issues of vandalism from scooter burnouts.

Lime is also planning to launch in Hamilton, Tauranga, Dunedin and Queenstown.

The electric scooters, which can be left anywhere in the city and unlocked with a phone app, have proven popular but controversial since their launch.

More than 60,000 people in Christchurch used the scooters in the first two months, taking more than 200,000 trips through the city.

However, the scooters have raised safety fears as they can go nearly 30kmh and can be ridden on the footpath or road without a helmet.

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