I read an important article in today’s Times highlighting a gap in the protection offered by London’s differing rental e-bike operators.
It reports on a woman who was seriously injured by a Forest e-bike rider -and examines the very different insurance arrangements across the sector.
Lime provides personal accident and third-party liability cover for riders. Forest’s published cover appears principally to apply where the company is legally responsible, while Voi’s insurance arrangements appear to differ between its scooters and bikes. More in the Times article, though you’ll need a subscription to read it: https://lnkd.in/euYU9gUX
For users of the bikes these services and I would personally think protection to seem broadly interchangeable. So I think it is reasonable to ask why the protection available to riders – and to pedestrians or other road users injured in a collision – should depend on which colour bike someone happens to unlock.
The City of London Team are truly excellent and I suspect have much of this in hand, however to be sure I have written to City of London Corporation officers to ask:
– What insurance requirements apply to operators serving the Square Mile
– Whether personal accident and third-party cover should be required consistently
– What collision, injury and insurance-claim information operators provide
– Whether City data can distinguish rental e-bikes from other cycles
– Whether common minimum standards can be pursued through the forthcoming pan-London framework
With the convenience they offer to so many users this is not an argument against rental e-bikes. They provide a useful, convenient and lower-emission way to travel around London.
But as their use grows, regulation, insurance and safety reporting needs to keep pace. Better data would help us understand the risks properly, protect everyone using our streets and make evidence-based decisions.
I look forward to hearing what work is already under way – and whether consistent insurance protection can become a basic expectation across the sector.