Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Itsmyshadow · 09/07/2026 22:45

I was chatting to a colleague about this the other day. Plagues of them everywhere. Hardly any of the riders wear helmets, they whizz along far too fast, don’t signal, don’t slow down to turn corners, dump the bikes in huge amounts blocking pavements.

I saw one ride cycle full pelt through crowds outside Monument station and straight out onto the cobbled road without looking (I don’t think she can have realised it was a road) and then straight through the red light at the bottom. I’ve had so many near misses and haven’t had one near miss with a car.

MasterBeth · 09/07/2026 22:43

CurdinHenry · 09/07/2026 22:14

No the provider of the no strings attahed death machine is at fault.

So car dealers should be in jail if they sell someone a car that ends up in a fatal crash?

Flamingojune · 09/07/2026 22:43

minnymoobear · 09/07/2026 22:39

They should absolutely have a speed limit on the bikes and come with a helmet.
I don’t understand how it’s legal to be on a bike without a helmet!!

How would that work? A helmet attached by a cord that lots of different strangers wear?

ColdAsAWitches · 09/07/2026 22:42

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

I use lime bikes when I travel to other cities. I've never crashed into anyone, run a red light or caused an accident. Why am I scum?

Nodirectionhome · 09/07/2026 22:41

It is not only these"hire" bikes though. Privately owned e-bikes and e-scooters are being ridden at high speeds on pavements and in pedestrian areas. I can see that in the not too distant future it will not be safe to be a pedestrian. So encouraging people out of cars onto these machines will possibly reduce the number of pedestrians eventually. The riders of the e-bikes and e-scooters are not even getting any exercise. It is like having motorbikes on pavements.

Flamingojune · 09/07/2026 22:40

The reason its made the headkines is because its a freak accident. Cars meanwhile can continue their carnage unfettered. Also not sure voi have been involved in any accidents

minnymoobear · 09/07/2026 22:39

They should absolutely have a speed limit on the bikes and come with a helmet.
I don’t understand how it’s legal to be on a bike without a helmet!!

MaidsRoom · 09/07/2026 22:37

CurdinHenry · 09/07/2026 22:14

No the provider of the no strings attahed death machine is at fault.

Why? They’re just e-bikes. They’re very useful for getting around in cities where you can’t tie up your own bike for five minutes without it getting stolen. While I’m very sorry about the accident, nobody demands Ford execs to go to prison when someone drives a Fiesta into a cyclist, or calls all BMW drivers scum when some idiot in a 3 Series kills a pedestrian.

ScottBakula · 09/07/2026 22:31

While I feel very sorry for the lady and she should get compensation I absolutely disagree with you that providers of the bikes are in the wrong. They are not death machines.
And that fact you call all users scum is ridiculous, there is absolutely no way you know all or even a tiny percentageof people that use them .
Yes some ignore lights and ride on pavements but so do cyclist that own their own bikes.

Flamingojune · 09/07/2026 22:27

Surely the providers if motor vehicles are where the real blame lies

Toottooot · 09/07/2026 22:24

Surely it’s the fault of the local cooncil rather than provider?

laurini · 09/07/2026 22:22

Ugh yes. I live in London and most never stop at red lights, meaning me and my kids are regularly dodging them even when the green man shows. Plus they block the pavements. I blame the local councils - they shouldn't grant licences to these companies without tighter regulation.

CurdinHenry · 09/07/2026 22:14

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

CurdinHenry · 09/07/2026 22:14

JohnnieFedora · 09/07/2026 22:08

Surely the person riding the bike is at fault?

No the provider of the no strings attahed death machine is at fault.

OP posts:
JohnnieFedora · 09/07/2026 22:08

Surely the person riding the bike is at fault?