With more than 50,000 rental e-bikes now in London alone, many used by inexperienced riders, motorists are at risk of accidents that aren't their fault – but, as one has learned, this can be difficult to prove.
Unlike cars, rental bikes have no registration plates, so they can't be readily identified. However, to ensure redress is obtained for anyone in an accident involving them, rental companies insure them against third-party claims.
Transport for London, operator of the capital's Santander-branded e-bikes, does so to the value of £5 million, with a £250 excess. Voi, another operator, provides third-party insurance up to £10m; Lime insures up to £11.6m.
In the event of an accident involving a third party, e-bike renters are required to exchange details and notify their rental operator. Santander also requires riders to notify the police and obtain a crime reference number.
Recently, Jack Evans, 30, was stationary at traffic lights in Forest Hill, London in his Kia Picanto when a Lime e-bike collided with its passenger door.
However, rather than sharing their details and notifying the rental company, the rider remounted their e-bike and left the scene.
“It happened so quickly,” said Evans. “The rider’s head struck the passenger side window, but before myself or my wife could react, they had gone.”
The passenger door was damaged in the incident and Evans has been told that repairing it could cost around £500.
He contacted Lime to report the incident but was told that without the rider’s details, the company was unable to pursue his claim.
A spokesperson for Lime told Autocar that the company purchases third-party liability insurance on behalf of riders and that it ‘encourages’ anyone who has an accident involving a Lime e-bike to report the incident by contacting its customer service team.
Autocar asked Lime how many reports of accidents involving its e-bikes damaging property it receives each year and how many have been reported where the rider has not given their details. However, despite repeated requests, the company failed to answer our questions.
Meanwhile, medics claim to be experiencing a rise in patients with lower-leg injuries suffered as a result of accidents sustained while riding rental e-bikes.
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Registering bicycles is not the solution, not least because it demonstrably doesn't work when you look at motor vehicle hit-and-runs, as well as many other practical reasons that you can find covered by previous consultations etc. on this very topic.Jack could conceivably have gained that damage from anything, and then blamed an unidentified Lime bike as the cause - I don't really see how he can hope to get a payout from pursuing Lime unless he has some evidence beyond what is reported.Best course of action is to either claim on the driver's own insurance and let them pursue it if they want to. The alternative is to stump up for the repair himself, though of course he will need to report the accident to his insurance company anyway (unavoidable given it is reported in the national press) so can expect a premium hike regardless of whether he claims.Super annoying but one of the costs/risks of driving.
That picture is hilarious! Autocar is descending into a tabloid, by the looks of it. Which is rather sad.
Autocar descending into a tabloid? That happened years ago with click bait articles that are all too common here.
As for £500 to fix a scratch that could be sorted with "T-Cut" & elbow grease in ten minutes...
Well, if you've got E-bike users who don't leave details and run from the accident it kind of points towards mandatory indentification on the Bikes so at least if you haven't got the riders details you have some information to give to your insurer to pursue the claim.