Electric bikes that riders can hire and park at their convenience are an increasingly common sight on UK roads – with an estimated 30,000 Lime bikes available in London alone.
But their growing prevalence brings growing challenges for people with mobility issues.
For non-disabled people, encountering a pavement blocked by dockless e-bikes can be annoying and unsightly. For blind people and wheelchair users, it can be much more serious.
Blind content creator Lucy Edwards has posted about the stress of navigating poorly parked e-bikes with her guide dog, Miss Molly.
There are so many “littered on roads”, she says, that at times she is unable to get by without help. The experience has left her feeling scared and upset.
“I don’t know where I am, obviously,” she says. “If I don’t have someone with me, I don’t know how to get past.”
E-bike users are not always required to park inside designated bays. In some areas in the UK, e-bike companies such as Lime and Voi use a “free-float method”, which means riders can park anywhere – provided the bikes are not obstructing pavements.
However, some critics argue that users are abusing these guidelines and abandoning vehicles in precarious places.
Lucy posted an Instagram video to her more than 200,000 followers, showing in real-time how her guide dog pauses upon encountering e-bikes in her path.
The video shows her guide dog stopping and leading her back to the curb.
“This is so bad guys,” Lucy says in the clip. “She’s taking me to the curb again. That is so bad, look at all the bikes.”
Many commenters shared their frustrations, with one writing: “An absolute disgrace and a nightmare for wheelchair users, parents with pushchairs etc.”
Wheelchair user and social media content creator Eliza Rain has also spoken about the challenges poorly parked bikes pose to disabled people.
“I would say that I encounter bikes being an issue at least three or four times a week,” she says. “Users will park them diagonally across the pavement, there will be three next to each other on the pavement.”
Eliza also said there are certain areas she does not go to on account of previous experiences with dockless E-bikes obstructing her path.
What are the punishments if users break rules?
Lime’s rules state that the first time a user parks “incorrectly”, they will receive a warning. On the second offence, the user will be fined £2, and this increases to £20 on the fifth offence. After that, the user will be banned from using the service.
Hal Stevenson, Lime’s director of policy for the UK and Ireland, said around 95% of its users “are parking bikes in the correct place”.
Voi UK’s general manager Alex Bennett said its penalties vary from place to place, adding that they “do take action in the form of fines or outright bans”.
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In September 2024, Brent Council in London threatened to ban Lime bikes if certain changes were not made to the service.
After some negotiation, Lime and Brent came to an agreement, which included a reduction in the amount of Lime bikes in the borough and the creation of 200 new parking bays, as well as more patrollers in the area.
But Lucy and Eliza would like to see e-bike companies do more to address this issue.
“Stricter restrictions” on those who use the bikes would help, says Lucy.
Eliza echoes this view. “I think it would be great if the rules were stricter but also that there was just more awareness.”
Non-disabled people would be more considerate if they were aware of the challenges disabled people face, she adds.
