A LONDONER has been left infuriated after her disabled mother had her wheelchair route blocked by a horde of abandoned Lime e-bikes.
Ninia Benjamin was taking her mother to an appointment in the capital yesterday when they rounded a corner on Windermere Road in Archway, North London to find there was no way through.
With the pavement impassable for any vulnerable residents and the pair ultimately ending up late to the appointment, furious Ninia vented her frustrations.
The video shows Ninia pushing her elderly mother’s wheelchair along the pavement whilst filming the obstruction.
She points the camera directly at the group of bikes, which are scattered all across the pavement, completely blocking the way through.
Ninia angrily comments: “Yeah Lime, so you see how you’ve got your bikes all in the street?
“I’m with my mum in a wheelchair Lime, this is not good enough Lime. This is not good enough.”
Ninia then wheels her mother’s chair forward slightly edging towards the bikes to show the difficulty she would face in trying to navigate the walkway.
Despite the usage of Lime’s e-bikes soaring in London according to statistics, concerns have risen over a lack of public space to accommodate the bikes on the streets of the UK’s largest city.
Lime last year announced its aim to introduce 10,000 new parking bays for the estimated 30,000 bikes in London in an attempt to lower the number of bikes left on the street.
Commuters appear to be leaving the bikes wherever they choose, causing massive problems for mobility as pavements are blocked off.
Lime has previously even employed staff to travel the streets, picking up damaged or abandoned bikes and taking them back to a depot.
Ninia’s video was shared to social media yesterday with the caption: “Please I beg Lime, I ain’t doing an assault course because your users just dump their bikes.
“Sort it out. Yes, you should feel bad.”
The clip got the attention of Lime, who later replied to Ninia, promising that a local operations team would survey the area.
The clip has since gained dozens of likes and comments from social media users who were left similarly frustrated by Ninia’s plight.
One user claimed: “Lime do not care. Every day they block the Argos online fire exit. If there was a fire people could die. But profit over people is Lime’s modus operandi”
Another added: “London’s most hated company. Mayor of London does f**k all to help, I wonder how much cash he got?”
A third wrote: “Cyclists…”
Another replied: “Put them in the road.”
