Six months on from my accident, I've not got on a Lime Bike again

Times

a day ago

Six months ago I was hit by a car while riding a Lime bike. I was cycling home after a late netball match in a quiet residential area of south London. It was dark but dry and it was a journey I'd made hundreds of times before. I wasn't wearing a helmet — I never did when I got Lime bikes. I had nearly crossed a mini roundabout when a driver coming from my left failed to stop, hitting the back of my bike and sending me catapulting me over the handlebars.
I broke my wrist, my jaw and chipped my front teeth. I'm going to require dental work for the rest of my life. I was signed off work for six weeks. It was at least two months before I felt slightly more like myself again. I still get a little pang of nervousness crossing a road when I see a Lime bike coming. And I still haven't got back on a bike.
That's why the decision by Hounslow Council to stop Lime ebikes operating in the borough appeals to me. Although less about rider behaviour on the roads and more about parking issues (alternative contracts have been offered to the rental firms Forest and Voi, with 'stricter enforcement for designated bay use' cited as a reason), it feels like sanity is starting to prevail.
• The man behind Lime e-bikes on why they're 'no nuisance'
The driver who hit me claims she didn't see me, that I 'came out of nowhere''. I guess if I'd been on my normal bike (which had a puncture, hence the Lime), I would have been travelling at a slower pace and therefore more visible to others, or I'd have been able to swerve before she crossed. I don't hate Lime bikes but I fear them now.
While in many ways they've positively transformed our mobility across the city, they're big and heavy and fast. Anyone can get on one, and it feels like they leave them anywhere. As an able-bodied person I can walk around the scattered ebikes left on my road but I often think of how this affects wheelchair users, parents with prams, the elderly and people with disabilities.
Since my accident, multiple friends have also had incidents, as riders and pedestrians. With summer weather making buses and trains far less desirable, more people are going to choose a Lime bike — thus more potential for accidents.
• I know why Lime bike riders are so reckless
Am I convinced things will be that different with Forest and Voi bikes? I don't know. It's good to see moves toward stricter parking systems but will that really stop people from riding recklessly? Banning one brand doesn't fix the problem, it just passes it on.
For me, it's not so much the product that's inherently dangerous but how people use it. I often see riders on their phones, listening to music, even rolling a cigarette, completely absorbed in their bubble. Red lights and zebra crossings seem optional. And for pedestrians, these heavier, faster bikes leave a fraction of the reaction time compared to non-electric bikes.
Riders need to understand that while we feel free and protected, the power is illusory. We're not in a car, it's still a bike, and our bodies are vulnerable. While the ban might ease frustration in the short term, it doesn't solve the bigger issue of integrating technological advances into city travel. Cities need to adapt, not just restrict. If councils don't tackle the root behaviours and infrastructure gaps, we'll be here again in six months with a different logo.
As long as we treat these bikes as a quick fix — for cities, for commuters, for climate goals — without properly integrating them into how we move and live, we're asking for more accidents, more frustration and more bans. We need to fix the system before the fear outweighs the convenience and people like me never get back on.