Auckland Council gives Lime scooters the green light

Lime has been given the all-clear to unleash its scooters back onto Auckland streets - with conditions.

The company's licence to operate was suspended a week ago after scores of reports of sudden braking, and dozens of injuries.

Lime says it has fixed the problem, and Auckland Council on Friday said it was satisfied the scooters are now safe to ride - but before its scooters roll again, the company will have to agree to a number of conditions.

Lime will have to report "serious or signficant" incidents in Auckland within 24 hours, and incidents elsewhere in New Zealand and around the world within 48.

"We want to understand and learn from those, and make sure the appropriate actions are put into effect here," Auckland Council chief operating officer Dean Kimpton said on Friday afternoon.

Lime spokesperson Mitchell Price told Magic Talk the company has run multiple checks to ensure the brakes on their scooters are working.

"We have insured that the physical brakes are working. Our team have done physical inspections, we're ready to get these scooters back out on the streets of Auckland."

Every single Lime scooter will have to be mechanically inspected for flaws once a week, and inspection reports made available to Auckland Council and Auckland Transport.

Mr Price said the company will be working closely with Auckland Council from this point onwards.

"We will continue to have open lines of communication and will be meeting with the council regularly to ensure everything that we know about our fleet and our global fleet is communicated to them."

And by March 6, Auckland Council says Lime will have to start educating its users better. It will have to have at least 10 people available, seven days a week, through its ambassador programme. 

Mr Kimpton said Lime was told these conditions around midday on Friday, as well as the council's disappointment it had to learn of the scooters' problems through media reports.

If Lime formally agrees to the conditions, its scooters could be back on the streets by Saturday, Mr Kimpton said.

The problem with the scooters was isolated in the scooters' firmware, which Mr Price said had been fixed.

Newshub.