‘I was nearly wiped out by e-scooter rider’
WOMAN’S NEAR MISS AS SHE WALKED ALONG PAVEMENT
A WOMAN in Lenton claims she was nearly “wiped out” by a hired e-scooter.
Kate Loewenthal said her legs “turned to jelly” and she was lucky not to end up in hospital following the incident which “scared the living daylights” out of her.
The 51-year-old had been walking in Harlaxton Drive at around 4.30pm on December 31 when an e-scooter “came flying” along the pavement.
Fortunately the rider missed her – but Ms Loewenthal said it could have been a completely different story.
She said: “I would have definitely ended in A&E on New Year’s Eve if I was not quick enough to avoid it.
“But I swear to God, if it was a child or an elderly person they would have been totally wiped out.”
She explained it was dark when the “careless” rider came down the hill, rode by and crossed the road before carrying on at the junction with Derby Road,
“I had to jump back to avoid it and he did not stop in the slightest and there was no indication whatsoever of him slowing down at all,” said the chairwoman of the Lenton Drive and Neighbours Residents’ Association
“I am sure I yelled at him as well because it scared him.”
The previous yellow Wind scooters have been replaced with “industryleading” Link e-scooters from Superpedestrians.
The neon yellow and grey e-scooters have been rolled out in recent weeks.
The minimum age to hire e-scooters has now been raised to 18 years old, to bring the scheme in line with other major UK cities, including London.
But Ms Loewenthal claims that the new e-scooters are “more dangerous”.
She said: “I see people riding them on the pavement, and I still see them left all around Lenton.
“They are bulkier than before – they are even more dangerous.”
She added: “They are just a complete nuisance and I do not understand what improvements have been made to make them safer and stop people from riding them on the pavement.”
E-scooter bosses issued a warning over riding on pavements and said they will track down the rider who put Ms Loewenthal at risk.
In response to the concerns, Jean Andrews, policy director (UK and Ireland) at Superpedestrian, said: “Wind Mobility (UK) and Superpedestrian are absolutely clear: e-scooter riders must not ride on pavements. “The vast majority of our riders understand that pavement riding is prohibited. “We communicate this important safety messaging in the app that riders use to access our scooters, and print it on the scooter itself. “We reinforced this message with a safety education campaign that ran across Nottingham in December, covering digital billboards across the city and in the local newspaper.
“Yet even one incident like this is one too many.
“As we refine our unique geofencing technology, we are tracking down this rider and will be issuing the appropriate penalty.
“We encourage the public to contact us about any unsafe riding they see. We follow up all incidents.
“Our customer service details are printed on every scooter, along with a highly visible scooter registration number. A first-time infraction results in a warning; repeat offenders are suspended or barred.
“We’d be very pleased to welcome the members of Lenton DNRA to visit our operations centre in Nottingham to learn more about our safety technology and initiatives, and share their ideas for how we can improve our service even more.”
I do not understand what improvements have been made to make them safer and stop people from riding on the pavement
Kate Loewenthal