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Lime is the first of a series of organisations to sign up to the Sight Loss Council e-bike charter created by blind and partially sighted volunteers.
The charter calls for operators, local authorities and governing bodies to sign up to Sight Loss Councils’ six key principles.
This is to ensure the safety of blind and partially sighted (BPS) pedestrians.
Sight Loss Councils (SLC) are regional groups led by blind and partially sighted people.
They work with organisations to be more accessible and inclusive. SLCs developed the charter in collaboration with micromobility companies and with support from Thomas Pocklington Trust.
The charter recommends that operators, local authorities and governing bodies: provide parking bays and racks where users should park e-bikes, put in place a ‘reporting and monitoring’ framework of e-bike providers’ performance and make non-commercially sensitive results publicly available, and provide one universally accessible way BPS people and other digitally excluded residents can report e-bike incidents commit to ensuring reasonable maximum weight and speed restrictions of rental e-bikes.
Further recommendations include working towards ensuring all rental e-bikes are fitted with some form of audible alert equipment (e.g. horn or bell), and working together to minimise incidents of rental e-bikes used in pavement riding, including through trialling available technology and advocating for robust police enforcement.
Haren Thillainathan, London SLC volunteer, is pleased that Lime has backed the charter and sees the operator’s support as an opportunity to drive change.
Thillainathan commented: “As a visually impaired person in London, I’ve increasingly experienced the issue of poorly parked or abandoned e-bikes obstructing pavements.
“Feedback from our SLC work confirms this is a major concern for many blind and partially sighted people, affecting their daily lives.
“I initially hoped the government would introduce legislation to address this, but once it became clear this wouldn’t happen, I didn’t want this to be an excuse for inaction. This led to the creation of the e-bike charter.”
Sight Loss Councils have created the charter in response to blind and partially sighted (BPS) people telling Thomas Pocklington Trust and it’s UK network of Sight Loss Councils that inaccessible streets and public transport are key issues that matter to them the most (Listening Month, 2022).
Confusing parking rules for e-bikes can create pavement obstructions in London which impact on BPS people’s confidence to navigate our streets independently and safely.
E-bikes are left abandoned at the top of staircases, outside shop doorways, and in the middle of pavements. This puts BPS people at risk of collisions, trips, and falls.
BPS people are also reporting anxieties around not knowing the location of e-bikes travelling around them because they emit no sound, until it is too late.
The charity wanted to explore whether e-bikes could pose a danger to blind and partially sighted people when not used and parked appropriately.
London SLCs’ work with the operator includes Lime’s participation in the London SLC April 2022 visual impairment (VI) forum on e-scooters. Other attendees included Transport for London (TfL) and wider operators involved in the London e-scooter trial.
Sight Loss Councils have also collaborated with Lime on in-app messaging sent to all registered Lime e-bike users about safe parking and the impact of inappropriate parking on BPS people.
This educational campaign was shortlisted in the 2023 CiTTi (City Transport and Traffic Innovations) Awards. They also co-produced a TikTok video in 2024 on safe and responsible parking of e-bikes.
Fiona Deunyas, public affairs manager at Lime, added: “We are proud to be the first signatory of this charter. Its sensible recommendations to provide increased dedicated parking through use of cycle stands and allow for flexible, non-obstructive parking where dedicated parking is not provided are welcome.
“We look forward to working with SLC and our partner Councils to implement these measures and continuing to improve the experience of our service for people with access needs.”
Following the success of the e-bike charter in London and its collaboration with Lime, Sight Loss Councils are optimistic that the initiative will find similar success nationwide.
