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AIBU?

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Original poster

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

115 replies

CurdinHenry · 09/07/2026 21:59

Should just go to prison right now and never emerge

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/07/i-felt-my-spine-and-body-split-the-woman-who-was-hit-by-a-child-on-a-lime-bike-and-denied-compensation

OP posts:
Flamingojune · 10/07/2026 16:58

Arran2024 · 10/07/2026 12:54

Got home to find one propped up against my wall grrrr!! BTW we have Forest bikes round here. They are a bit smaller than Lime

Also very handy

Flamingojune · 10/07/2026 16:56

EmpressaurusKitty · 10/07/2026 10:44

You seem to have joined the thread specifically to defend e-bikes, @Flamingojune. Do you work for Lime or Voi?

Show quote history

Do you work for the car industry? Or is that a ridiculous question?

AnotherAngryAcademic · 10/07/2026 16:56

purpleme12 · 10/07/2026 06:45

I don't even mind people riding on pavements on normal bikes in general. But I wish they'd have bloody bells on and sound them. You cannot hear them coming at all and the amount of times I've not known it's coming at all and been completely surprised when it's rushed past me so close or almost crashed into me. I can well see how they clash into people.

I can mostly hear the bells though

And ebikes feel even worse.

I am Deaf and have been hit three times on the pavement - twice by e-scooters, once by an e-bike. On two of these occasions I had injuries that required hospital treatment. The bike was ridden by a teen, one of the e-scooters was ridden by a primary school aged child whose parent simply shrugged and didn’t even apologise. My hearing friends tell me that they can’t hear e-bikes/scooters either - but I can’t hear the bells, or the person behind me screeching that I should get out of the way.

No one should ride a bike or scooter on the pavement - with the exception of small children under direct and engaged supervision from an adult to make sure they don’t injure someone else.

TheOccupier · 10/07/2026 16:45

Arran2024 · 10/07/2026 12:54

Got home to find one propped up against my wall grrrr!! BTW we have Forest bikes round here. They are a bit smaller than Lime

How does having a bike propped against your wall actually affect you?

Arran2024 · 10/07/2026 12:54

Got home to find one propped up against my wall grrrr!! BTW we have Forest bikes round here. They are a bit smaller than Lime

EmpressaurusKitty · 10/07/2026 12:05

Sweetsalad · 10/07/2026 10:54

I don't work for either, no idea about flamingo.
But as someone with a disability they are hugely brilliant as I could not ride a normal bike

And as someone who cares about reducing air pollution and climate change i am massively in favour of anything that reduces car use.

I also lost a loved one when they were knocked down and killed by a car. So I can never forget that cars are killing machines

Show quote history

I’m sorry about your loved one, @Sweetsalad.

All the good points about these bikes are exactly why we need a really strong crackdown on everyone misusing them, since the alternative could be that they eventually get banned.

Charys · 10/07/2026 11:10

They are a scourge to the pedestrian. I absolutely hate them, cluttering the pavements and I hate the lawless way they are ridden, ignoring red lights and speeding along on pavements. I’m Longing for them to be banned.

GoneWithTHeWindJammers · 10/07/2026 11:03

Surely, the hire charge includes an element of insurance? if so, the insurance company is liable to pay the lady compensation. If there is no insurance, then parliament needs to legislate.

InQuiresandplaceswheretheysing · 10/07/2026 10:55

The lime bikes are lot an issue round here. It’s the bloody scooters. It was great when the company went bust and there were none. Now they are back. I saw a bloke leading 3 kids of about ten years old, all on hired scooters on the road the other day.

Sweetsalad · 10/07/2026 10:54

EmpressaurusKitty · 10/07/2026 10:44

You seem to have joined the thread specifically to defend e-bikes, @Flamingojune. Do you work for Lime or Voi?

Show quote history

I don't work for either, no idea about flamingo.
But as someone with a disability they are hugely brilliant as I could not ride a normal bike

And as someone who cares about reducing air pollution and climate change i am massively in favour of anything that reduces car use.

I also lost a loved one when they were knocked down and killed by a car. So I can never forget that cars are killing machines

EmpressaurusKitty · 10/07/2026 10:44

Flamingojune · 10/07/2026 10:29

So thats the rider not the ride?

Show quote history

You seem to have joined the thread specifically to defend e-bikes, @Flamingojune. Do you work for Lime or Voi?

PosiePerkinPootleFlump · 10/07/2026 10:35

They need fines for riding a bike outside of compliance with the Highway Code and they need to enforce them enough for it to be a deterrent. So running red lights, riding on the pavement, wrong way on a one way street - £200 fine

Flamingojune · 10/07/2026 10:29

TemperanceWest · 10/07/2026 09:58

As pp says, it is not just hire bikes. We have a few little balaclavad scrotes who ride these things on the road and the pavement. They are an absolute menace.

So thats the rider not the ride?

sandalbed · 10/07/2026 10:06

Tamtim · 10/07/2026 05:27

There should be huge penalties for riders not abiding by the rules, including parents of 10 year old children, causing life altering injuries to pedestrians.

this

TemperanceWest · 10/07/2026 09:58

As pp says, it is not just hire bikes. We have a few little balaclavad scrotes who ride these things on the road and the pavement. They are an absolute menace.

Sweetsalad · 10/07/2026 09:56

EmpressaurusKitty · 10/07/2026 09:26

Bikes are great. I’m perfectly happy for people to ride bikes. As long as they’re forced to stop doing it on the pavement.

Edited to add for the ‘what about cars’ people, I don’t want cars on the pavement either & I agree that bikes are much better for the environment & exercise.

Edited

I agree. I don't want bikes on the pavement. I want lots more bikes on the road and fewer cars on the road

Flamingojune · 10/07/2026 09:49

LakieLady · 10/07/2026 09:45

I've stopped going into Brighton for shopping because their "Beryl bikes" are such a bloody menace. They totally ignore the pedestrianised areas, weave in and out of pedestrians and seem to think they take priority over everyone. I nearly got sent flying by one as I came out of a shop into a pedestrianised street.

Mind you, ordinary cyclists are little better. They ignore the "pedestrians only" rule in part of my town centre. I have a bee in my bonnet about them after a colleague was hit by a cyclist ignoring a red light at a crossing. Her back and pelvis were so fucked by the accident that she was never able to work again.

5 people are killed every day on uk roads. Its not e bikes doing it

Flamingojune · 10/07/2026 09:46

MondayYogurt · 10/07/2026 09:17

It’s a bike discussion though?

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For me its a transport discussion

LakieLady · 10/07/2026 09:45

I've stopped going into Brighton for shopping because their "Beryl bikes" are such a bloody menace. They totally ignore the pedestrianised areas, weave in and out of pedestrians and seem to think they take priority over everyone. I nearly got sent flying by one as I came out of a shop into a pedestrianised street.

Mind you, ordinary cyclists are little better. They ignore the "pedestrians only" rule in part of my town centre. I have a bee in my bonnet about them after a colleague was hit by a cyclist ignoring a red light at a crossing. Her back and pelvis were so fucked by the accident that she was never able to work again.

EmpressaurusKitty · 10/07/2026 09:26

Bikes are great. I’m perfectly happy for people to ride bikes. As long as they’re forced to stop doing it on the pavement.

Edited to add for the ‘what about cars’ people, I don’t want cars on the pavement either & I agree that bikes are much better for the environment & exercise.

scalt · 10/07/2026 09:21

But think of those nasty climate changing cars they’re taking off the road.

MondayYogurt · 10/07/2026 09:17

Flamingojune · 10/07/2026 07:40

And those cars that can go over 100 mph. Too much power

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It’s a bike discussion though?

Sweetsalad · 10/07/2026 09:15

DeathBanana · 09/07/2026 23:58

Is it out of the realms of possibility that a user has to be registered / licensed and if they are detected riding too fast / jumping lights / mowing down pedestrians they are no longer able to obtain and operate the bike? I’m sure modern technology / gps / black box / rfid type cards would allow for that kind of system. A bit like a driving licence and you can’t physically unlock a bike if you are operating it unsafely

We could put these things in place for cars too

Plus much higher penalties when the cars park in ways that block pavements

Sweetsalad · 10/07/2026 09:14

Personally I would like to see more e bikes and scooters and far fewer cars on the road. It would be much better for air pollution and climate change

Sweetsalad · 10/07/2026 09:13

Do you feel the same about car manufacturers and car drivers?

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