Lime e-scooters' return to Auckland streets delayed

Saturday, 2 March 2019

Lime e-scooters should be back on Auckland streets by mid-next week.

Lime's return to Auckland streets has been pushed back, with the e-scooters set to return by the middle of next week.

Auckland Council gave the e-scooters the green light to return on Saturday morning, but there were none showing on the app by 1pm.

Auckland councillor Chris Darby said Lime had informed the council it would take a few extra days to roll its scooters back out.

He said 'Lime has chosen to just be triple sure' its scooters met all safety requirements.

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A Lime spokeswoman said the scooters would be back early next week, but declined to give a particular date.

An Auckland Council spokeswoman said she believed the e-scooters would be back by the middle of the week.

Lime had its license suspended by Auckland Council on February 22 due to a software glitch that caused scooters' wheels to lock up.

The scooters were banned from the streets until Friday, when Lime proved the glitch had been sorted.

The council said at the time it expected the scooters to return on Saturday morning.

Darby tweeted that taking a few extra days to check hardware, firmware and software was a 'good call' by Lime.

Lime will not be re-launching its #Auckland e-scooter fleet until mid-week. Having passed all the independent tests required of them @limebike is triple checking hardware, firmware and software, as they recognise safety is paramount. Good call by them.https://t.co/F1NdZMlKZ3

— Chris Darby (@DarbyatCouncil) March 1, 2019

Lime's figures showed the glitch caused 155 'irregular braking incidents' across the country, resulting in 30 injuries – 19 of which were in Auckland.

Several Auckland riders reported broken bones and smashed faces over summer.

Mitchell Price, Lime's director of government affairs and strategy, said the malfunction only affected less than a fraction of a per cent of all Lime trips in New Zealand – just 0.0086 per cent.

'But we also know that each trip is not really a number - it's a rider and a member of the community – so any case is one too many.'

ACC said it had paid out $643,000 for more than 1300 e-scooter-related injury claims since October to mid-February.