Auckland council to seek advice on Lime Scooter safety

Auckland Council will seek urgent advice on rules surrounding the new Lime scooters that have been distributed in Auckland and Christchurch, NZME reported.

This comes after one councillor said she was nearly taken out by a scooter today.

Councillor Christine Fletcher said at a council meeting today that she had walked down to the Town Hall and came within an inch of being taken out by one of the motorised scooters.

Ms Fletcher said she does believe the scooters have their place in Auckland, however, she had been told of near misses and has now experienced one herself, NZME reported.

"I am quite shaken by this," Ms Fletcher said.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff thinks the scooters are posing a serious issue and said he this morning discussed it with the Minister of Transport Phil Twyford.

NZME reported Mr Goff said, after seeing people use the scooters on the Viaduct, he was amazed at the speed people were travelling at without helmets. 

The scooters arrived eight days ago and a spokesperson for ACC told Newshub the organisation has received 14 claims for injuries since then.

Mr Goff said he wants to examine whether regulation of the scooters is needed, from a safety perspective.

He does not want to exclude the use of the scooters as he believes they offer another option for traveling around the city.

"But there are issues. I am not sure if we are capable of regulating it through bylaws," Mr Goff said.

Lime scooters are available for users to hire through an app for $1 and cost a further 30 cents per minute of use.

There were 500 scooters dropped in Auckland and 400 in Christchurch, with plans to have more within the month.

Newshub.