To think the providers of ebikes in cities (hello Lime and Voi)

It’s completely reasonable to not want it leaning against your wall! As for the pavement blocking, I think it is very challenging for those pushing buggies to navigate narrow pavements now clogged, but as for the safety issue you mention, I honestly think a complaint to the council is in order. It’s an absolutely haphazard lack of awareness and consideration for others. Grrr indeed!

Of course the wall isn't going to fall down but anyway I don't want the bricks damaged. And I think it's perfectly reasonable to not want anything against the wall. I wouldn't do it to someone's wall.

Btw there were four lime bikes all parked up wheel to wheel on the pavement outside this morning, taking up a sizeable chunk of pavement. As there are cars parked nose to tail too, anyone with a buggy or mobility scooter or even a dog would have to go into the road. We have a blind man who lives further up the street who has a guide dog and stick - goodness knows how he manages.

I am aware of the weight of an e-bike as I ride them several times a day. The heaviest ones weight about 40kg which is a lot less than the average adult. If your wall can't cope with a 40kg weight against it then you need to get the builders in urgently before it falls down!

Point taken re narrow pavements. I do try to move badly parked bikes when I spot them as I have had mobility issues in the past and know how hard it is getting down the street even without extra obstacles. And I don't want the bikes banned as I rely on them to get around!

People who have different views of the world to you are trolls? What a narrow view of life you have

Let’s hope it happens. There’s enough of us that hate them, let’s hope we get taken notice of.

I think e-bikes should be banned entirely. They're motorised vehicles, they're fast, they're heavy and no one is policing their use properly. Yes to regular bikes though. Responsible cyclists are something else entirely but e-bikes and e-scooters are a complete hazard.

Looking at the video I think this is unlikely. Lime bikes are relatively easy to hack so that they unlock without the app - lots of London kids can do it, BUT when you use them in this way, the electric motor doesn't work. You are just pedalling a 40kg push bike "manually" (or whatever the leg equivalent is) and it's very hard to get them up to even the speed of an average bike. If this kid was riding the bike with its motor working, he'd either nicked it mid-ride from someone who was riding it legitimately (unlikely, as you can pause them if you want to nip into a shop), or some idiot adult had given him access.

If Lime can't prevent their bikes being stolen, used illegally, ridden by under age users... then they should indeed pay out if an accident occurs.

If the accident occurs when the bike is ridden properly by a legal user, fair enough, the user pays... and Lime should make that clear to users.

Pretty efficient at killing pedestrians and cyclists never the less

If it had been hired the trip would have been insured
But going by the article she was hit by a 10 year old child on a stolen / hacked Lime bike

She is a victim of crime

The child has not been traced, there is nothing in the records for it being used as it was not hired from Lime

Drivers tend not to drive down pedestrianised streets or pavements

If you are hit by a driver you are more likely to die

I am a pedestrian. They are not a scourge to me.

YABU the lady could have been hit by someone on a privately own eBike/scooter and also suffered horrendous injuries.

From what I gather, hire ebikes and scooters are legal because they are part of trials and have insurance and registration etc.
Privately owned ones don't, and yes they are a scourge in my town too. 2 up in hoodies, full pelt through pedestrian areas.

Ebike rental should include a type of public liability insurance (or opportunity to add own PL insurance to your account) and there should be some kind of mini black box so that irresponsible riders can be blocked.

True, but there is a surplus of e bikes near me at any given time. This is a hot spot for these bikes and like i said, we have the e scooter trial too.

It's blocking the relatively narrow pavement for starters. We are in a residential area near a school and lots of people come past with buggies. But anyway, why should anyone prop an ebike on a wall? These bikes stand up. Generally, there are signs on shops and other buildings asking people not to lean the bikes against them and I suspect it's because it damages the building. My garden wall is Victorian brick and I don't want it damaged. E bikes are v heavy btw. Not like a regular pedal bike.

I don’t drive so my main interest is keeping anything that has wheels & goes faster than jogging pace off the pavements. Both bikes and cars, but it’s bikes that come whizzing up behind me more often.

I still hate pavement parkers and surfers more. Far more common and dangerous where I live.

Keep your cars and vans off the pavements, please!

I may be wrong, but I thought I heard on Radio 4's Today programme that a lady who was hit by someone on a Lime bike was claiming from the MIB but it was taking years.

I think they should have docking stations like the Santander bikes do. At least they wouldn't be scattered all over the pavements then.

But this angst about bikes is a very London-centric thing. They are a pain in London, I accept that. I hate their constant bell dinging, you only have to look at them and they ding their bells at you.

But thousands of people are killed by drivers every year and it's drivers we need to do something about. I cycled to an exercise class the other evening and the number of dangerous overtakes in about a mile of road was wild. Not actually a danger to me but the oncoming cars who apparently should disappear. We need to sort out drivers.

I think Lime bikes have been AMAZING for London (yes, I know this is a niche view).

But, they have also been dangerous.

If, as a cyclist, you are hit by a driver in a hit-and-run, then you can claim compensation from a body called something like the Motor Vehicles Insurers body, which all of us car-drivers pay into, and which provides something when a perpetrator can't be found.

I think Lime should be required to join this, so that if/when their bikes injure someone, and the perpetrator can't be found, then there is compensation available.

I think the private ones are more dangerous than the Lime ones.

The Lime ones are restricted to the legal maximum speed (often in practice they are slower than a push bike). The private ones are frequently derestricted and seriously dangerous.

Overall properly ridden they are a great benefit and a triumph of innovation. Boris bikes for instance are cheaper but far more cumbersome.