Lime scooters allowed to continue trial in Auckland until March, amid concerns over speed and injuries

January 10, 2019

Council Chief Operating Officer Dean Kimpton says Lime has agreed to add additional safety measures.

Auckland Council has announced that Lime scooters will be given a further licence to operate until the end of March in Auckland as the council continues its review on their impact.

The council's COO Dean Kimpton said this morning in a statement that they are also working with lime on some "additional initiatives that will add to our review".

These include Lime being asked to introduce roaming safety ambassadors to educate people about using the scooters safely.

Mr Kimpton said the council will be looking at what technological methods could be used to limit or control the scooters' speed.

Auckland Council are gathering information on the scooters' impact, including ACC data, to decide whether to extend Lime's licence to operate in the city permanently.

The scooters are being launched in Auckland and Christchurch, and can be found using a smartphone app.

In the mean time, Lime today deployed its scooters in Dunedin, joing Auckland, Christchurch and Hutt City.

Figures released by Lime say more 500,000 trips were taken on the scooters by 150,000 different riders in the six weeks after they were deployed in October.

The scooters have a top speed of 27km/h, the manufacturer says, and 300 ACC claims were made for injuries sustained on the scooters during the same six-week period.

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