Lobbying got Lime on to the streets
E-scooter business Lime lobbied the NZ Transport Authority into re-classifying electric scooters as non-motor vehicles, so the California-based company could meet its deadline to introduce its contraptions to the streets of Auckland and Christchurch.
Emails seen by Stuff show lastminute lobbying led to an NZTA exemption declaring e-scooters were not motor vehicles, paving the way for Lime to operate its fleet under a street trading licence. Lime confirmed it engaged former Labour Party president Mike Williams as a consultant during its lobbying.
Williams is also a former director at NZTA, and was a founding board member of Auckland Transport until 2014.
On September 11, 2018, a Lime employee emailed an NZTA staffer saying the e-scooter business ‘‘intended to launch in Auckland and Christchurch by September 20, and [had] received permission from both cities to operate’’.
‘‘Urgency is requested in this matter,’’ the Lime employee wrote.
A week later, NZTA chief executive Brendan Mainwaring declared an electric scooter was now not a motor vehicle if its specifications met a certain criteria. The criteria included: wheels that do not exceed 355mm in diameter; one or more electric auxiliary propulsion motors; and the combined maximum power output of those electric motors did not exceed 300 watts.
However, advocates for safety and e-scooter retailers say NZTA failed to outline a mandate ensuring they were safe and roadworthy for users and pedestrians.
ACC has paid out $643,000 for more than 1300 e-scooter-related injury claims since October to mid-February.
Prior to this change no safety protocols existed because e-scooters were still classified as vehicles (mopeds), but after the re-classification Lime was free to introduce its fleet and avoid existing vehicle regulations.
And as they were no longer a motor vehicle, NZTA would not police or regulate their use.
Once NZTA declared the intended amendment, the change had to be presented to Parliament within 16 sitting days – but NZTA failed to meet this deadline.
The papers were eventually presented on December 7.
Currently multiple e-scooter brands, that do not meet the current criteria, are for sale in New Zealand, with no-one tasked to properly police safe use.
While retailers can warn the purchaser of the restrictions, there is little enforcement and without a registration scheme there is little chance of catching any reported offenders.
Auckland Council has no jurisdiction to investigate safety concerns or suspend the sale or use of private products or services, including e-scooters that are privately sold or used.
This is the role of central government.
Safety advocate Dr Lynley Hood, on behalf of the Dunedin Pedestrian Action Network and the Visual Impairment Charitable Trust Aotearoa, has submitted an application for a regulatory performance review of the way NZTA has handled the situation.
She said that despite NZTA’s claimed concern for road safety, the misuse of its delegated powers had made the country’s roads and footpaths more unsafe.
Henry Tan, owner of eScoozi, an e-scooter retail shop in north Auckland, said NZTA’s current safety rules are ‘‘a joke’’.
‘‘Not having a helmet is a stupid idea,’’ he said.
The use of e-scooters on public paths in Singapore, Tan’s home country, is governed by legislation.
Essentially riders must register their approved e-scooter, wear helmets and adhere to safe usage otherwise they can be fined, jailed or their e-scooters can be seized.
‘‘Not having a helmet is a stupid idea.’’
E-scooter retailer Henry Tan