E-mobility Electric Scooters Electric bicycles

[ozbob]

Ha ha Otto ..

they said that about segways ..



Meanwhile Briz, sent to all outlets  and

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1095710377285869568

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1095715811992338434

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Lime scooters' Brisbane permit extended to middle of the year

E-scooter company Lime will have its Brisbane City Council permit extended until the middle of the year, while a procurement process begins for two scooter companies to run the popular new scooters permanently.

The Lime scooters have taken over Brisbane streets in recent months with an extended trial on streets sparking debate over their safety and popularity.

In Tuesday's council meeting public and active transport committee chairman Adrian Schrinner announced the council would extend the three-month trial for Lime until the middle of the year.

The council's procurement process will limit the number of scooters on the streets to 1000.

Cr Schrinner said the council wanted to see two scooter companies running competitively on the streets, meaning each company would have 500 scooters each.

"We will run a procurement process where we will invite every interested scooter company to put in their tenders for Brisbane," Cr Schrinner said.

"We want to see good competitive tenders.

"We know there is big demand and we know that many of those trips are taking cars off the road, this is the way that cities all around the world are going."

Cr Schrinner said the council had been approached by 10 different scooter companies expressing interest in bringing their mobility devices to the city.

"We're Liberals, we believe in competitive tension and that competition in the marketplace will drive a better outcomes for users," he said.

Lime community affairs manager Queensland, Nelson Savanh, said more than 131,000 unique scooter riders had taken up the scooters since they launched in Brisbane.

"Brisbane is one of the fastest uptakes Lime has seen globally, so it is fantastic to hear that we will continue to bring this transport solution to a community who have truly embraced our service," he said.

Cr Schrinner said the council would work with the state government and Queensland Police to ensure people continued using the scooters safely.

Labor councillor Jared Cassidy said the opposition agreed active transport was the way of the future.

"Labor has consistently supported the trail and welcome its extension," he said.

"We understand there are concerns about the impact scooters have on footpaths shares with pedestrians, but with strong guidelines we believe this can be managed.

"This highlights the need for more dedicated space for active transport in our city, as more people take up alternative forms of transport to private motor vehicles."

The scooters have already seen half a million trips since they first arrived in Brisbane in November.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Dangerous glitch sends Brisbane Lime rider flying off scooter

A dangerous glitch that has affected Lime scooters overseas is also sending Brisbane riders flying as the company confirms it is investigating the issue.

A Brisbane man has filed an injury claim with the electric scooter hire company after the front wheel on the scooter he was riding suddenly locked up and threw him to the ground.

Jordan Madigan, 26, said he was thrown off the scooters three times in January, with the first two instances happening on the Story Bridge and the third on Shafston Avenue in East Brisbane.

On the second occasion, the Lime scooter swung around and ripped open the back of Mr Madigan's foot as it hit him, he said.

"The first time I was going at the maximum speed and on pretty flat bitumen when it just stopped. The front wheel locked up and I flew off and rolled along the ground," he said.

"I didn't really think too much at the time. I thought the front wheel had locked up but it happened so quickly.

"I kept riding at half-speed in case it happened again, and a week later it did.

The second time, he managed to jump off because he was riding more slowly.

"The front wheel locked and swung the back of the scooter around and it hit me as it came around," he said.

"I thought I had hurt my foot but I kept riding the scooter home.

"But then it happened again about five-to-10 minutes later, so I stopped and got an Uber home.

"I had a leather work shoe on, but it was blood-soaked from the wound on the back of my heel. It had been cut open."

Mr Madigan said the injury left him needing stitches, on crutches and not being able to wear anything but loose sneakers for weeks.

Previously, he used the scooters every day to get to and from work but hadn't used one since.

Mr Madigan said his roommate and another mutual friend told him they had also had the front wheel lock up while they were riding the scooters.

Lime confirmed the problem affected New Zealand riders and told Auckland Council it was caused by "a software glitch". There have also been reports of the glitch affecting scooters in Switzerland.

The electric scooter operator has refunded the cost of the ride that resulted in Mr Madigan's injury and his separate claim is being reviewed.

In a statement, a Lime spokeswoman confirmed the company was aware of the issue affecting Brisbane's electric scooter fleet.

"We recently became aware of an operational issue affecting certain scooters," she said.

"While the issue is still under investigation, user safety is our first priority and affected scooters have been removed from circulation.

"In the meantime, we have proactively engaged regulators as we work to eliminate these incidents, and we are in the process of continuing to develop early detection and additional preventative measures for our entire global fleet."

The spokeswoman noted the company's public liability insurance in Brisbane exceeded $20 million - "above state and council requirements".

"This coverage is there for riders and the public if something goes wrong," she said.

"While on a scooter, riders are responsible to obeying the road rules including wearing a helmet, following the speed limit and only having one person riding at a time."

Lime did not comment on the status of Mr Madigan's injury claim and did not provide an explanation for the front wheels locking up.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Brisbane City Council threatens to kick Lime scooters out of city

LIME faces being kicked out of Brisbane within weeks unless they can prove that their electric scooters are safe to use.

Brisbane City Council put the scooter company on notice on Wednesday night, and also called on the State Government to crackdown on users who flout the law.

Lime have been told they have two weeks to demonstrate their scooters are safe or they will have their temporary permit to operate in the city torn up.

Council public and active transport committee chairman Adrian Schrinner said the state also had to prove it would do a better job of policing the laws in order for Lime's operation permit to remain in place.

"Council has been made aware of recent reports of an issue affecting Lime Scooters, and urgently sought assurance from Lime that the issue had been dealt with," he said.

"Lime has assured Council the issue has been identified and resolved.

"Council told Lime on Wednesday they had two weeks to demonstrate the problem was indeed fixed or their permit would not be extended."

The scooters have proven to be a runaway success, with commuters taking more than half a million trips on the devices since their launch in Brisbane in November.

It was reported in January that the city's emergency departments only recorded about 60 scooter related injuries since the start of Lime's trial.

Only last week, Council announced that they had extended Lime's temporary operation permit through to June.

It is understood they have concerns about reports of the front wheel on some scooters suddenly braking.

Cr Schrinner said the State Government also needed to deliver on "their end of the bargain" and enforce scooter rules.

"Council has written to the State Government and urgently called for them to enforce safety measures around helmets and speeding and for the State to finally acknowledge their responsibility and put a stop to unsafe use," he said.

"Unless Council is satisfied both Lime and the State have delivered on their respective responsibilities to deliver a safe eScooter service, Council will not be extending the permit beyond the current two weeks."

Lime's director of government strategy Mitchell Price insisted the company's scooters were safe, and said it would give the council the information it required.

"Last week we rolled out two successful firmware updates to the scooters and we've performed several thousand physical quality assurance checks of these scooters," he said.

"Over the last couple of days, I've instructed the team to take scooters into the warehouse, ensure we provide a full warehouse check on every scooter, checking the brakes, making sure they're all working and getting them back out on the streets.

"This is a really popular form of transport."

Mr Price said Lime had provided the council a copy of a third-party engineering report on its scooters only last weekend.

"There's another report which I will be providing them later this week which will go into the full route analysis of what's happened and what the fix is," he said.

The State Government has been contacted for comment.

[tazzer9]

As a very frequent user of lime scooters I would like to give my 2 cents.   They are great and one of the best things to ever come to Brisbane.  However there are a few downsides.
1. Helmets, I am a strong believer that helmets should be optional by law like the Northern Territory and the rest of the world.  Laws should be made to protect you from others, not from yourself.  In saying that, there are not enough helmets, they need to be replacing all the ones which are stolen and its very frustrating seeing up to 10 at a time being parked fresh from the charging station at 9am, all without a helmet.

2. Bells.  Most scooters do not have bells, and the ones which originally did have bells have been broken off.  This needs to be fixed and is something that is very easy to fix.

3.  Brakes.  Serious issues here.  Some of the scooters brakes (along with the limebike I had in sydney) have nearly useless brakes.  Not even enough to stop you from gaining speed going down a hill.  Generally every second lime ride I use the feedback function to state that the brakes need to be checked.

4.  Locking.   Some of the no lock (no parking) zones are a bit illogical.   For example outside the state library.

However, the positives of them far outweigh the negatives.   

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Royal Australasian College of Surgeons concerned over number of Lime Scooter injuries

SURGEONS are warning of the risk of significant injuries to Lime Scooter riders, claiming there were almost 100 injuries recorded in just two months.

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is concerned for those that use the popular mode of transport after recording data that shows a total of 88 injuries over two months across three public hospitals in Brisbane.

Queensland Chair of RACS Trauma Committee and Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Matthew Hope said data also needs to be collected in other jurisdictions before the scooters are rolled out elsewhere.

"Data has been collected in Brisbane for a short period in late 2018 which showed a dramatic increase in injuries associated with personal mobility devices," Dr Hope said.

The data also shows people aged between 20 and 34 accounted for 66 per cent of the cases overall, and 56 per cent were male.

The injuries included head trauma, upper and lower limb fractures, sprained or strained limbs and serious contusions or abrasions, and 10 per cent of cases requiring surgery.

Lime Scooters Queensland Community Affairs Manager Nelson Savanh said safety was their number one priority.

"While not all injuries get reported to Lime or the authorities, it's important for riders to remind themselves about safe scooter behaviour. So far in Brisbane we've had nearly 600,000 rides and the vast majority of riders scoot safely," he said.

"Any injury is one too many to us, which is why we have $20 million public liability insurance. We encourage anyone who has been affected by this issue to get in touch with our customer support team."

RACS claims the increase in significant injuries is a result of a faulty wheel-locking mechanism, which was found in 2018 data.

Lime Scooters said they rectified this issue as soon as they were aware.

"As soon as we learned about the wheel locking issue we decommissioned all of the scooters affected," Mr Savanh said. "We have deployed a firmware update which has resolved the wheel locking issue and our local operations team continue to perform quality assurance checks on all scooters."

Chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Trauma Committee Dr John Crozier said there needs to be more awareness and legislative measures implemented including the mandatory use of helmets, safe speed limits and age restrictions.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Lime Scooters faces legal action from injured riders

LIME Scooters is facing legal action from riders who say they received serious injuries after being thrown off their e-scooters when the front wheel suddenly stopped.

Brisbane man Luke Ferguson said had engaged a lawyer after a fall from a e-scooter left him with a broken nose, split chin and grazes.

Another man, who was left with a broken collarbone in a separate incident, is also considering legal action.

Only last week, Brisbane City Council announced that it would revoke Lime's temporary permit to operate in the city unless it could demonstrate its scooters were safe.

It followed concerns locally and overseas that a glitch caused the front wheel to stop suddenly.

Brisbane local Luke Ferguson said he was thrown from his scooter while riding along the Goodwill Bridge at about 28km/h on January 18 when the front wheel of his scooter suddenly locked up.

"I went over the handlebars," he said.

"I put my hands out to brace my fall. Hands went first, chest, chin, and then nose and head.

"The helmet took the head impact. People were screaming because of the impact."

Mr Ferguson now plans on taking up legal action with both Brisbane City Council and Lime, after suffering a number of injuries – including breaking his nose and grazing parts of his body.

He believes Lime was aware of the wheel locking issue before his accident and suggested that Brisbane City Council should have known – saying there were similar accidents overseas before Lime's launch in Brisbane in November.

"That (defect) existed before Brisbane City Council gave them the authority to test in Brisbane," he said.

"To me, they haven't done their research.

"I believe in the idea of that mode of transport, and still do, but obviously there's defects that need to get taken care of."

To make his case, Mr Ferguson is still trying to track down CCTV footage from the bridge on the day of the incident.

But he has been told no camera captured the accident, despite other cameras showing him entering and then exiting the bridge once he had been injured.

A government spokesman said if Lime had recorded footage of any member of the public, it could request that video through Right to Information processes.

Lime community affairs manager Nelson Savanh said the company had decommissioned all of the scooters affected by the wheel locking issue as soon as it learned about it.

"We have deployed a firmware update which has resolve the wheel locking issue and our local operations team continue to perform quality assurance checks on all scooters," he said.

Mr Savanh insisted safety was Lime's No.1 priority, and encouraged anyone who had been affected by the wheel locking issue to contact its customer support team.

"Any injury is one too many to us, which is why we have $20 million public liability insurance," he said.

"While not all injuries get reported to Lime or the authorities, it's important for riders to remind themselves about safe scooter behaviour".

The scooters have proven to be a runaway success since their launch in the River City in November, with nearly 600,000 trips taken, with Lime pointing out that the "vast majority of riders scoot safely".

However, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons last week issued a public warning over the devices, which said a "faulty-wheel locking mechanism" had led to significant injuries.

A total of 88 injuries were recorded over two months across three public hospitals in Brisbane," the college said.

Brisbane resident Liam Thompson said he was injured while riding a Lime scooter when the front wheel locked as he was travelling along a street in Spring Hill on December 20.

"The fact that it can suddenly, unexpectedly stop like that, with no input from yourself, it's slightly scary for the people out there," he said.

"(The scooter) was 20km/h, wheels were straight and didn't hit a bump and the front wheel has suddenly and unexpectedly stopped".

Mr Thompson, who needed collarbone surgery, said he was considering taking legal action after being left out-of-pocket by medical bills.

A Brisbane City Council spokesman said yesterday that after becoming aware of a reported bug with Lime's e-scooter firmware in late February, council had told the scooter company it had two weeks to show it had fixed the issue or its temporary permit would be scrapped.

"Council understands Lime is updating their e-scooter firmware and is working with global consumer protection agencies to meet their rigorous safety standards," he said.

"Council has also contacted the State Government to urge them to enforce safety measures around helmets and speeding."

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/9NewsQueensland/status/1102849591966224384

[techblitz]

if these guys were true coding kings like they make themselves out to be just for creating a basic app.....they would have implemented more tech to keep on top of these issues...

a simple camera/image recognition combo would take care of anyone not wearing a helmet and a speed limit database combined with sensor logging of anyone breaching the speed limits would take care of the majority of speeding issues......but that would mean potentially having to ban people from the app......wouldn't want that now would we lime......better off developing the tech & banning the rogue users in the name of safety....rather than being banned from an entire city...

[James]

There is a design issue with Lime scooters - it is incredibly difficult to keep an eye on your speed because the speedo is right at the bottom of the ground, exactly where you aren't looking at higher speeds. Compare this to a car where looking at a speedo briefly doesn't even require you to divert your attention from the road in many instances.

There should be some option where you can get your scooter to announce your speed periodically - would make monitoring your speed much easier. It is worth pointing out though that bikes don't have speedos - yet we don't see people getting their knickers in a knot over bikes on footpaths.

[techblitz]

just did another return trip through the city 4pmish && zero citycycle riders noted........only this time I managed to see two young adults riding on 1 lime scooter....while going at a decent clip && wearing no helmets to boot 

[verbatim9]

just did another return trip through the city 4pmish && zero citycycle riders noted........only this time I managed to see two young adults riding on 1 lime scooter....while going at a decent clip && wearing no helmets to boot 

You should of had your camera out last night @ 6.45pm. I joined space4rcycling for their weekly advocacy ride through the city streets to make people aware of Active Transport and segregated paths. I didn't note any scooter riders in the CBD then.

Depends which streets you are referring too.  Cyclists are always seen along George, Albert street, crossing King George Sq, and Adelaide street. Most use the Bicentennial bikeway and botanical Gardens to get from the Northern end of the city.

Edward st is too congested for cyclists during the day and at peak.

Not many use footpaths in the city to cycle on. Too congested and slow!

The most likely scenario will be a Segregated Bikeway along Geroge Street from Alice Street to Roma Street. Then a shared tunnel underpass from Tank or Herschel under North Quay to connect with the Bi Centennial Bikeway.

[AnonymouslyBad]

The most likely scenario will be a Segregated Bikeway along Geroge Street from Alice Street to Roma Street. Then a shared tunnel underpass from Tank or Herschel under North Quay to connect with the Bi Centennial Bikeway.

Segregated lanes along George St is a must but I haven't seen any real sign of progress on that front. Too politically difficult. It's a shame as it's inevitable we'll get them one day anyway.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/7NewsBrisbane/status/1106948410928586752

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/MichaelCoombes/status/1107442546676916225

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Team_Quirk/status/1107449636640325633

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Lime can stay in Brisbane with a twist: $570 fee for each scooter

Brisbane City Council wants to charge electronic scooter company Lime a flat $5000 three-month permit fee and an annual $570 fee for each scooter, if approved by the council next week.

On Monday the scooter company was given an 11-day extension to stay in Brisbane after the council put the company on notice two weeks ago, following multiple reports of serious injuries from a wheel-locking issue.

Deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner said on Monday the council was satisfied the safety glitch was corrected and had extended the electronic scooter's permit for Brisbane until March 29.

"Cabinet has just today approved a submission that will come through to council next week for a vote, this is all about opening up the competitive tender process for other operators," Cr Schrinner said.

"We've previously announced that we'd like to see some competition in the market, two operators, a thousand scooters between them operating from the middle of this year.

"Next week in council there will be a vote on that matter."

Lime's permit had been due to expire midyear but was cut back to Monday, March 18 when Brisbane City Council put the company on notice to fix the problem or be kicked out.

The council will also debate whether to give Lime back its full three-month permit until mid-year after the 11-day extension ends.

For that three-month permit, council also wants to charge Lime a flat $5000 permit fee and $570 for each scooter every year , after the council has born the costs of regulation and management since the scooters arrived on the streets in November.

The projected revenue from those charges for three months would be $111,875.

The 11-day permit issued to Lime includes "some strict reporting conditions", Cr Schrinner said, requiring the company to immediately notify the council of any further problems.

Cr Schrinner said there had been no further complaints about scooter wheels locking up since Lime upgraded its firmware in response to the issue.

Lime community affairs manager for Queensland Nelson Savanh welcomed the news.

"Brisbane City Council's decision to keep Lime on the streets is great news for over 150,000 locals who have ridden a Lime scooter over the last three months," he said.

"With over 600,000 rides since our launch, we're moving people around the city like never before and getting more cars off our congested roads."

Cr Schrinner said at least 12 companies had approached council to express interest in submitting an application to the tender process when it opens.

He said council had wanted to see Queensland Police were proactively monitoring Lime scooter users including helmet use and safe operation of the popular scooters.

"Police have issued more than 200 fines, these fines are $130 each so that's more than $28,000 worth of fines that have been issued for unsafe use of these scooters," Cr Schrinner said.

"There's definitely been a step-up in police enforcement in the past couple of weeks, we've seen them out and about and they're really taking an active and proactive approach when it comes to enforcement."

In January, Brisbane rider Viktor Vukovic needed three plates and fourteen screws to hold his shattered arm together and fellow user Jordan Madigan required stitches after his heel was ripped open when their Lime scooters stopped suddenly due to a glitch.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/QldPolice/status/1108619501367492609

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Concerns raised over tender process for scooters on Brisbane streets

An open tender for two companies to run electric scooters on Brisbane streets will open this week after Brisbane City Council approved the procurement strategy in chambers on Tuesday.

The council also approved a $5000 flat fee permit for the two successful companies, plus $570 per scooter per year.

The two successful companies will have a permit for 500 scooters each, after a five-month Lime scooter trial saw more than 600,000 rides taken on the scooters since November.

The procurement process was approved by Brisbane City Council on the same day one of its most vocal scooter critics, Singapore scooter company Beam, ran a small public event in the city promoting their scooters.

Beam has previously criticised the council for keeping the scooter trial to Lime alone, arguing it gave the company an unfair advantage and brand-name recognition well ahead of the procurement process.

Beam's head of public affairs Brad Kitschke said the company had had to hold their event on private land at St John's Cathedral after failing to secure a permit from the council to have their scooters on the pathways.

However, Cr Schrinner told Brisbane Times the event permit necessary was available to the company; they had simply chosen not to pay for it.

Mr Kitschke questioned why, if the council was preparing to have 1000 electric scooters run by two companies, the current trial period was still limited to Lime.

"We'll participate in the [expression of interest] process, but what we'd like to understand is why we can't put our scooters on the road now," Mr Kitschke said.

"Council have indicated there's up to 1000 scooters through the permit system — Lime's got 750 on the streets right now.

"We want to know why we couldn't put 250 on the streets right now until the EOI process in June.

"We want the opportunity to show our scooter, show our software, and demonstrate it's a completely different unit ... people should be given a chance to try it out."

Cr Schrinner said if Beam were given permission, it would require "open slather" with scooters available to any company that wanted to join the trial.

"The issue with Lime is that both the state government and the council supported that trial happening, and they were the first people to approach us and offer such a trial," Cr Schrinner said.

"I think it's reasonable that council and the state government offer people a trial; having said that, what Beam is suggesting is an open slather kind of approach.

"Given there's now maybe 14 or 15 different companies that have expressed an interest, where do you draw the line? It's just a trial."

Speaking in chambers, opposition leader Peter Cumming (Wynnum-Manly) said Labor wanted more detail on how the $5000 permit and $570 per scooter fees were determined by the council.

For 500 scooters per company per year, that could give council a revenue of $285,000 per year, not including the $5000 permit fee.

"How did the administration come to those figures? We're interested to know that and again we'd like some more information on that matter," Cr Cumming said.

He also questioned why the council was planning for two companies to run scooters in Brisbane, noting that while Cr Schrinner had said it was to develop competition, "duopolies haven't led to the best competition".

"Perhaps there should have been three, perhaps there should have been four," Cr Cumming said.

Greens councillor Jonathan Sri (The Gabba) also questioned the fees determined by the council, saying it sounded like "a very good deal for the scooter companies and a very bad deal for ratepayers".

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/MarkBaileyMP/status/1111822917724041216

[techblitz]

^ gee couldn't they give the scooter riders a couple of weeks to take in the campaign? instead of springing a surprise operation last night which netted 70+ infringement notices...
They must have tied the operation to the warning tweet 9 days ago...seriously though....how many scooter riders actually follow QLD police on twitter 

[ozbob]

Yo ...

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1111863446553808896

[red dragin]

Helmet laws aren't new. Was also raised before the lime scooters where first distributed.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/7NewsBrisbane/status/1113687555898089477

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> E-scooter companies target Brisbane after Lime kicked out of Adelaide

Two new electric scooter companies may be hopeful of toppling popular scooter company Lime from prime position on Brisbane's streets, after Adelaide City Council recently evicted Lime in favour of scooter companies Beam and RIDE.

Earlier this year, Adelaide City Council held an expression of interest process for up to two scooter companies to operate in the city until October, after Lime had operated a two-month trial on the streets.

Beam and RIDE were the two successful companies, prompting a sharp rebuke from Lime.

"The City of Adelaide will now request Lime to cease operations across the City of Adelaide after it was unsuccessful in its bid to secure one of the two new permits," the council statement said last week.

On Monday, Lime's director of government affairs Mitchell Price said the Adelaide trial had been "rushed" and the result was "disappointing".

Beam's vice-president of corporate affairs Christopher Hilton said the company was confident that its "comprehensive proposal submission" and its experience in operating in Australia would help it win the Brisbane tender.

"Beam will be submitting a proposal to the ongoing tender process in Brisbane. We are excited at the possibility of offering an alternative transport option to all Brisbanites," he said.

"We remain disappointed that the current e-scooter provider has been given the advantage of nine months of operations to support their application but, as we have seen recently in Adelaide, incumbency does not guarantee victory."

Lime has been comfortably established in Brisbane since November last year after successfully convincing the state and the council to allow it to operate on a trial basis.

After multiple serious injuries were reported, linked to a firmware glitch that locked up the front wheel and sent riders flying overhead, Brisbane City Council put the firm on notice for two weeks to fix the issue.

The problem was resolved and Lime's permit was extended again until the middle of the year.

Last month the council opened the tender process for two scooter companies to operate for two years in Brisbane, with more than 12 companies expected to tender for a permit to operate 500 scooters each.

"Council is currently accepting tender proposals for up to two e-scooter companies to operate in Brisbane," a Brisbane City Council spokesman said.

"All operators are encouraged to apply ahead of the tender closing at 12pm on Wednesday.

"Safety is paramount and it is council's expectation that any Brisbane e-scooter schemes are able to operate safely."

The two companies who win Brisbane's tender process will each be required to pay a $5000 flat permit fee, plus $570 per scooter they operate on the streets, raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars for Brisbane City Council.

Lord mayor Adrian Schrinner said last month that the fees were only fair as council was spending money on compliance and maintenance around the scooters.

Said Lime's Mr Price: "We have been committed to paying the fee, which is one of the highest fees in the world for scooters, but we are prepared to pay that."

He said Lime scooters had ticked just over 800,000 trips in Brisbane, and by the end of June was predicted to hit one million trips.

He said the company would present a "strong argument" in it submission to continue operating in Brisbane, with the company preparing for a long-term future in the city, including dockless electric cars, not just scooters.

The 500-scooter limit per company, however, had sparked some criticism from Lime.

Mr Price said Lime had told the council the limit should be scalable, so scooters could be spread across the city and not concentrated in just the CBD.

Beam and RIDE are also both submitting tenders to council as the deadline of April 17 closes in.

RIDE chief executive Tom Cooper said winning a permit in Adelaide made RIDE the first Australian-owned company selected to operate in Australia.

"This is a huge achievement for us as a company and shows that our service is competitive and meets the transport and sustainability needs of a major capital city," he said.

"Brisbane really is a new world city and we are excited to show council how we can be part of it."

Mr Cooper said RIDE's scooters had a lower centre of gravity, rear-wheel drive and brakes, and an adjustable steering column.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/7NewsBrisbane/status/1118426891336028160

[James]

https://twitter.com/7NewsBrisbane/status/1118426891336028160

Increasingly I am starting to think a number of these 'glitch' cases are actually people using Lime on inadequate and unsafe footpaths. All it takes is a concrete lip of as little as 2-3cm, and because an electric scooter's wheels are hard and small (not large and soft like a bicycle), it is very easy for the wheel to get 'jammed' into a crack and over your head you go. Simple physics caused by sudden changes in the forces applied to the wheel.

Like a lot of policy failures in this state, this is something for which the blame can (yet again) be squarely laid at TMR. If you let people ride electric scooters in bike lanes and in general traffic where appropriate, they would be on the (much smoother and wider) bitumen roads, rather than on our poorly maintained footpaths. Of course you shouldn't be liming in the right lane of Gympie Road, but some sensible policy here would be much appreciated.

Instead we are going around fining people for riding on the road who are in fact, probably making things safer for pedestrians and themselves. :conf

[verbatim9]

Scooter riders will be scooter riders I think they take more risks than a general cyclist does?

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Lime accused of paying off injured e-scooter riders

TRANSPORT company Lime have been accused of paying off injured riders of a e-scooters following claims their technical glitch was still a concern.

The technical issue from earlier in the year had caused the scooter's front wheel to lock up, flipping the rider over the handlebars.

Lime advised the Brisbane City Council on March 18 that the issue had been addressed and ensured the council the scooters were now safe.

Over ten days after Lime claimed to have fixed the glitch, Hayley Adamson was rushed to hospital following a Lime incident, in which she claimed was the result of the malfunction.

Ms Adamson was taken to hospital via ambulance with a busted chin, seven cracked teeth, a fractured jaw and a suspected spinal fracture.

Having to pay a $14,000 medical bill, Ms Adamson contacted Lime, who according to 7 News, offered her partial payment for medical treatment. .

"We do not agree we are at fault, however we want to reimburse you for the dental bills up to the amount of $9700," Lime's response said.

"We hope the good will gesture will allow you to resolve your concern."

As well as offering Ms Adamson nearly $10,000 compensation, she also claims they asked her to sign a confidentiality waiver if she accepted the money.

Ben Wilcock from Shine Lawyers strongly advised anyone in Ms Adamson's predicament against signing the document.

"People should be very cautious about agreeing to any of these hush agreements or waivers, as often they're actually giving up their legal rights for compensation," he said.

According to 7 News, Lime is investigating the claims and said the company have a comprehensive insurance plan in place for its riders.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Lime Scooters offers $250 compo for fractures after wheel locks up

A BRISBANE woman seriously injured in a Lime Scooter accident was offered $250 compensation, $1 discount vouchers and a confidentiality agreement to settle her claim.

Caitlin Smit claims she was knocked unconscious and broke her eye socket when the front wheel locked and she was flung over the handle bars of a scooter at Kangaroo Point on December 27.

Ms Smit was rushed to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital where she was found to have a severe concussion, two fractures of the orbital bone, nerve damage to her left side of the face, bruising and a fractured nose.

"I was on my way home from work when it just locked up and I went over the handlebars ... it ruined the rest of my summer. I definitely didn't want to be in public and couldn't do any of the activities we had planned," she said.

"I also had to go to the dentist, as I broke one of my front teeth ... and my fractured nose had to be reset twice.

"The left side of my face still feels a bit numb, as there is nerve damage there and my arm got scraped up pretty badly and there's scarring."

After a lot of back and forth with Lime Scooters, Ms Smit was emailed with an offer of $250 compensation for her medication while in hospital and the damage to her clothing.

The offer came with discount vouchers and a confidentiality waiver and release from liability document to sign. But the 26-year-old didn't accept and engaged Shine Lawyers.

"Considering her significant injuries, caused through no fault of her own, Caitlin has been offered a tiny sum to stay quiet and not seek proper compensation following her painful experience," Shine Lawyers solicitor Kylie Carson said.

"The monetary amount in itself is paltry, while the offer of $1 discount vouchers for future rides is insulting."

Lime's director of government relations, Mitchell Price, said the company was looking into Ms Smit's trip.

"Since December, we have thoroughly investigated all occurrences of excessive braking and worked closely with third-party safety and engineering experts to roll out a software fix," he said. "We have also developed early detection and additional preventive measures for our entire global fleet.

"Since the software fix was rolled out earlier this year, we have not seen any confirmed occurrences of excessive braking related to firmware anywhere in the world.

"With respect to Caitlin's claims, Lime has a comprehensive insurance policy that exceeds state and council requirements for its riders, guaranteeing any rider who has an accident on our platform can get the help they need."

I don't like Lime ...   

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Hacked Lime scooters play offensive voice messages

Eight Lime scooters have been yanked from Brisbane streets after "vandals" altered the audio files on the popular electric scooters to play offensive messages.

Video of a scooter broadcasting an inappropriate message was shared to social media this week.

Lime's Queensland public affairs manager Nelson Savanh confirmed the company was actively checking to see if any other scooters had been tampered with.

"We are aware that eight Lime scooters in Brisbane have had their audio files changed by vandals recording over the existing audio file with inappropriate and offensive speech," Mr Savanh said.

"It's not smart, it's not funny and is akin to changing a ringtone.

"It's disappointing that someone has taken this opportunity to poke fun at members of the community in a hurtful way."

Earlier this year Lime ran into other issues with their electric scooter firmware as a glitch saw many scooters pulled from the streets after front wheels locked up, sending passengers hurtling over the handlebars and causing serious injuries.

Brisbane City Council then issued a warning to Lime to fix the issue within two weeks, with Lime later confirming a firmware update had resolved the issue.

The company is now waiting for the outcome of the Brisbane City Council tender process to make permanent the scooter trial.

Beam and Ride, who beat out Lime to successfully win a tender process in Adelaide, have both submitted proposals.

On Tuesday, Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner confirmed nine companies had submitted their proposals, vying for two possible licences to operate 500 scooters per permit.

Any company that is granted a licence will be required to pay a $5000 flat fee plus $570 for each scooter every year.

"I understand there are nine tendering companies at this point, which is a really strong level of interest," Cr Schrinner said.

"We knew there would be strong interest ... we'll now go through the process of assessing them individually to make sure we get the best outcome."

The tender process closed on Wednesday, with the council making a final decision later in May.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/QldPolice/status/1125875137977315328

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https://twitter.com/7NewsBrisbane/status/1125985875672756227

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1126150962127593472

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/RACQOfficial/status/1126268364261715970

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1126509279416971264

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/johayesjourno/status/1126628155836362752

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Lime scooter death prompts calls for e-scooter ban in Brisbane

The Pedestrian Council of Australia is calling for an immediate ban of e-scooters on footpaths in the wake of the incident, saying there needs to be tighter restrictions on their use by the Council.

Pedestrian Council Chairman Harold Scuby said the laws in place around the scooters currently are not sufficient and are not enforceable.

He said the death of a man, who suffered traumatic head injuries after falling from a Lime scooter, shows how dangerous they are.

He says risks to riders and pedestrians can't be adequately managed and the city council should be banning scooters, not looking to issue a second company a licence to operate.

The 50-year-old man died in hospital on Thursday, a day after he fell at South Brisbane.

He suffered severe head injuries despite wearing a helmet and also had a heart attack.

Investigators are looking at whether the heart attack caused the fall. After the incident, the ambulance service detailed the injury toll from e-scooters.

Over a two-month period, 80 people were treated at two major hospitals, and 12 of them required surgery.

"We've been predicting this death for a long time," he said.

"We want to sit down and talk to them about a maximum and enforced and enforceable speed limit of 10km for all vehicles on footpaths.

"We'd also like to know from the Queensland government exactly how much the crashes have cost the taxpayer to date."

Mr Scruby said the scooters operating under their current rules are not just a threat to riders but also pedestrians.

"I was walking on the Howard Smith Boardwalk on the weekend and it was like being in traffic."

"We can't see them coming (e-scooters) coming and some of them were doing 40kms an hour at least."

Queensland Ambulance Service clinical director Tony Hucker says riders must be aware of the risks and make sure they're wearing helmets and watching their speed on footpaths.

He said it wasn't clear why the helmet failed to protect the man who suffered "traumatic" head injuries.

But he stopped short of backing a ban.

"We do know that people are getting hurt but if you are safe and careful it can be OK," he told reporters.

"They are unique in a way because they have really small wheels and they're more prone to catching in divets and holes ... so there's probably a higher risk, particularly at night."

The Brisbane City Council has expressed sympathy for the man's family and says it won't comment further, pending a police investigation into the death. The Lime scooter company has also expressed its condolences and is cooperating with the probe.

[SurfRail]

Harold's a fool.  He also wants cyclists to be banned from footpaths and to take out CTP, among other things.