A Dunedin author is calling on the Government to issue an urgent recall of Lime e-scooters.
Award-winning writer and co-convener of the Dunedin Pedestrian Action Network Lynley Hood believes Kiwis are being used as 'crash test dummies' due to Lime rolling out older models of the e-scooters in New Zealand.
In the United States, newer Lime models with improved features such as enhanced safety features, upgraded wheels and better brakes and suspension are used, she says.
- Watch: Man rides La-Z-Boy on Lime down Dunedin street
- Dunedin boy pogo sticks up Baldwin St
- 'What an idiot': Watch as driver underestimates Dunedin's Baldwin St
- Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull hopes 'common sense' will stop students riding Lime scooters down Baldwin Street
Issues with the New Zealand e-scooters mean Lime should be issued with a compulsory product recall, Ms Hood believes.
Just recently Lime admitted a glitch is causing an unknown number of its scooters in New Zealand to brake mid-ride.
"I'm not against people having fun. Like for skateboards we made skateparks, but we made it very clear that footpaths are a place of courtesy and respect - they're not corridors for speedsters," she told Newshub.
She says she is working with an Auckland lawyer around the legalities of the e-scooters to have them recalled like any other defective products.
"The wheels are crap, they are solid rubber. [You] get a bump in the pavement and you just get pitched off, so they are unsafe," Ms Hood says.
Ms Hood first raised the issue at Dunedin City Council's infrastructure services and networks committee meeting saying the councils have been "conned by a snake-oil salesman" into allowing Limes in the city.
She believes the e-scooters need to be forced off the footpath to cycleways.
She is sending a petition to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Kris Faafoi, urging the recall.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) could initiate a compulsory product recall, on the basis the devices could cause injury to people.
MBIE and Lime have both been contacted for comment by Newshub.
Newshub.
