I'm horrified (though I suppose no longer surprised) by the fact that the emergency services staff member who triaged the initial call for help didn't recognise the *massive* red flags present. An abdominal or thoracic compression/impingement injury, combined with the severe pain, the sudden profuse sweating, breathing difficulties, the dimming and loss of sight, the (feeling of) losing consciousness. Michael is lucky that the internal bleeding caused by the injury didn't kill him on the (needlessly prolonged) journey to hospital.
I rode on a new model Lime bike in Nice a few weeks ago. It was MUCH better. 20inch wheels, lower centre of gravity, smaller and lighter, better capacity basket and much better designed phone holder too. Much less likely to result in serious injury. I really hope they are phased in here! (Also, speaking as a barrister specialising in negligence, please tell your readers to check their home insurance policies, which may assist in some personal injury claims!)
I've just got back from Nice and some of the Limes (I assume) there also had an excellent 2nd seat on the back. There were also almost no randomly parked bikes in the middle of pavements.
After my son was very badly injured in a Lime bike accident, the people who came to his aid had a similar difficulty getting an ambulance. I complained to London Ambulance Service and received an apology and assurance they had changed their triage protocols as a result of my son’s experience. If this happened after Sept 2024, it sounds as though the change did not really happen or has not worked. If Mr Williams wants to get in touch with me via Jim Waterson, I’d be happy to help him follow that up.
I don’t think banning is the solution or would benefit anyone. They’re absolute game changers in so many ways, get people cycling, make areas of the city accessible, reduce cars on the road.
The problem is
1) The bill for the external cost/nuisance/injuries is being met by others while Lime gather the revenue. Lime could put more money into this but it would cost them ££ and it’s hard to force them at the moment.
2) The technology can be improved to reduce nuisance behaviour. If the bill ticks up while you’re a red light people, people are incentivised to run the red light. In terms of parking, removing the space for one car on every street in London could free up room for a dozen e-bikes.
3) Generally who is policing the standards and maintenance of the bikes beyond Lime? Regulation is on the way so if I was Lime I’d get my act together in advance.
Totally! Equally better solutions for having your own bikes! With ownership comes responsibility. Had two of my bikes stolen and there’s no decent system preventing theft. Lime bikes get taken on joy rides a lot and cause other problems.
They are trash! People should have their own bikes! Then they wouldn’t leave them randomly. Since they’ve been introduced pedestrians can’t access pavements and parents find it hard to enter or exit homes as they block doors. As for dumb, I can see the lack in maturity in both vocab and thought.
As a former cyclist in London (sadly not since an SUV encounter) it’s been interesting that despite for years people saying “I’d be too scared to cycle” they actually meant they didn’t want the exertion. I don’t think of Limes as cycling, it’s riding. It’s also (as with this article) substituting for walking so really not active travel.
I read “He’d become the filling in a hire bike sandwich” in the style of Chris Morris doing a piece to camera on The Day Today and couldn’t stop laughing… sorry! 😅
While this story is about the design of the bike I'm also worried about vandalism which makes them less safe to ride.
Outside the Supreme Court this weekend kids - on Lime bikes - competing to see how many they could domino knock over with each pass. I know that would break a normal bike and can't believe that repeated treatment like this leaves even a Lime unscathed. Could a less robust design end up less safe because of this?
I'm horrified (though I suppose no longer surprised) by the fact that the emergency services staff member who triaged the initial call for help didn't recognise the *massive* red flags present. An abdominal or thoracic compression/impingement injury, combined with the severe pain, the sudden profuse sweating, breathing difficulties, the dimming and loss of sight, the (feeling of) losing consciousness. Michael is lucky that the internal bleeding caused by the injury didn't kill him on the (needlessly prolonged) journey to hospital.
I rode on a new model Lime bike in Nice a few weeks ago. It was MUCH better. 20inch wheels, lower centre of gravity, smaller and lighter, better capacity basket and much better designed phone holder too. Much less likely to result in serious injury. I really hope they are phased in here! (Also, speaking as a barrister specialising in negligence, please tell your readers to check their home insurance policies, which may assist in some personal injury claims!)
Lots of readers have been sending in positive reviews from their travels!
I was in Nice as well, we must have cycle across each other riding limes around. That area is so fantastic for cycling!
I was later in Marseille, where curiously there are more scooters. Given the chaotic nature of Marseille they worked well in there.
I've just got back from Nice and some of the Limes (I assume) there also had an excellent 2nd seat on the back. There were also almost no randomly parked bikes in the middle of pavements.
Oh there were in Marseille. But Marseille is Marseille of course
After my son was very badly injured in a Lime bike accident, the people who came to his aid had a similar difficulty getting an ambulance. I complained to London Ambulance Service and received an apology and assurance they had changed their triage protocols as a result of my son’s experience. If this happened after Sept 2024, it sounds as though the change did not really happen or has not worked. If Mr Williams wants to get in touch with me via Jim Waterson, I’d be happy to help him follow that up.
I’m reading Empire of Pain and Lime seems like the Purdue Pharma of its day - putting out products it knows are dangerous
What a horror story! These lime bikes are trouble for pedestrians and cyclists alike. They need to be taken off our streets.
I don’t think banning is the solution or would benefit anyone. They’re absolute game changers in so many ways, get people cycling, make areas of the city accessible, reduce cars on the road.
The problem is
1) The bill for the external cost/nuisance/injuries is being met by others while Lime gather the revenue. Lime could put more money into this but it would cost them ££ and it’s hard to force them at the moment.
2) The technology can be improved to reduce nuisance behaviour. If the bill ticks up while you’re a red light people, people are incentivised to run the red light. In terms of parking, removing the space for one car on every street in London could free up room for a dozen e-bikes.
3) Generally who is policing the standards and maintenance of the bikes beyond Lime? Regulation is on the way so if I was Lime I’d get my act together in advance.
Totally! Equally better solutions for having your own bikes! With ownership comes responsibility. Had two of my bikes stolen and there’s no decent system preventing theft. Lime bikes get taken on joy rides a lot and cause other problems.
Here we go again. No, banning them is dumb, they are a life changer for mobility. We just need the system to be improved.
They are trash! People should have their own bikes! Then they wouldn’t leave them randomly. Since they’ve been introduced pedestrians can’t access pavements and parents find it hard to enter or exit homes as they block doors. As for dumb, I can see the lack in maturity in both vocab and thought.
As a former cyclist in London (sadly not since an SUV encounter) it’s been interesting that despite for years people saying “I’d be too scared to cycle” they actually meant they didn’t want the exertion. I don’t think of Limes as cycling, it’s riding. It’s also (as with this article) substituting for walking so really not active travel.
Own bikes get robbed in London, making it basically undoable. Either we get lime/ebikes or we get nothing
A Lime pass for an hour will also get you in/out to central from Zone 2 for the same price as a return tube fare.
People love them for a reason.
I read “He’d become the filling in a hire bike sandwich” in the style of Chris Morris doing a piece to camera on The Day Today and couldn’t stop laughing… sorry! 😅
If you write news and don’t occasionally slip in some Peter Ohanrahan level turns or phrase, what’s the point.
I am so sorry for this horror story.
While this story is about the design of the bike I'm also worried about vandalism which makes them less safe to ride.
Outside the Supreme Court this weekend kids - on Lime bikes - competing to see how many they could domino knock over with each pass. I know that would break a normal bike and can't believe that repeated treatment like this leaves even a Lime unscathed. Could a less robust design end up less safe because of this?
*kerb
I think I must have been unknowingly Americanised on curb/kerb for many years.
Get em banned.