They are the scourge of sidewalks across the country.
Now a Daily Mail investigation can find out why those who leave rented Lime bikes littering our streets get away with it.
Our results show that the technology used by Lime has serious shortcomings. This means that in some places, drivers can park anywhere without any penalty.
Enforcement is so lax that our reporter managed to leave bikes blocking London landmarks and on the doorsteps of multi-million pound homes without receiving a single warning or fine, despite the bike company’s promise to punish bad parking.
It caused chaos across the country, with rows of 80-pound electric bicycles blocking entrances to stations and businesses.
California-based e-bike company Lime operates in cities across the country, including Salford, Nottingham, Oxford and Milton Keynes.
But anti-social parking has particularly plagued London, with some councils not requiring users to park in designated areas.
Lime says that in these areas where there are no docks, bikes must be parked “neatly to the side of the sidewalk.”
Lime bikes are the scourge of sidewalks across the country.
When our reporter parked in a spot that clearly blocked the entrance to a Greenwich home, the Lime app simply displayed a message that could easily be ignored.
The Post office managed to park inside a block at the entrance to the Fan Museum on the same road.
Instructions on the website say drivers should “always be considerate of other sidewalk users” and list five rules for parking.
Passengers are asked to take a photo of themselves parking and upload the photo to the Lime app.
But the Mail found that it did little to enforce its rules. Our investigation covered three areas of south London where berthless parking is permitted: Wandsworth, Southwark and Greenwich.
We found that when parking in an area that clearly blocked a walkway or entrance, the Lime app displayed a message that read: “Move your vehicle from the walkway: To help everyone get by, move your vehicle away from walkways, entrances, and ramps.”
But each time our reporter managed to ignore this message and park the bike.
This meant we were able to avoid the bikes blocking the entrance to the Greenwich and Globe Theatre, despite the app recognizing that it was obstructing pedestrians. We even managed to leave our bike on the steps of Southwark Cathedral.
The app has also allowed us to park bikes in the driveways of multi-million pound homes.
The Lime app was better at preventing parking in “exclusion zones” such as around the Cutty Sark and the Old Royal Naval College Greenwich, but this was not always the case.
Even being in the middle of Greenwich’s busy market, which should be protected by a restricted area, Lime bikes can still be parked.
A Lime bike could even be parked on the steps outside Southwark Cathedral.
Poorly parked e-bikes are particularly problematic in London, where some councils, including Greenwich and Southwark, do not require users to park in a designated area. The Post Office managed to dump one bike in the middle of busy Borough Market in Southwark…
…and also in the middle of the road near the Globe Theater on the South Bank
One Lime bike was also parked blocking the entrance to the Greenwich Theatre.
…and the nearest grocery store
We managed to park our bikes in the middle of busy markets in Borough and Greenwich, which should be protected by exclusion zones. Our reporter rearranged all the bikes after they were parked.
Lime said users who do not park in accordance with its rules receive a warning, followed by fines of up to £20, before repeat offenders are banned from using its services.
However, the Post was not given a single warning, despite 26 parking violations.
Lime is struggling to solve this problem because its GPS technology is not accurate enough to determine whether a bike is parked correctly.
Just last week Lime apologized to a blind couple after a glitch in the app led to bikes blocking pavements in Bromley, south-east London, where the firm’s bikes are banned, and forcing them to cross a busy main road with their guide dog.
Earlier this year, Lime announced it was releasing new bikes with improved GPS technology, which it said would make a “huge difference” to parking enforcement.
But Eric Matthys, policy director at the Royal National Institute of Blind People, said its efforts were “clearly still falling short of what is needed.”
Mr Mattis, who has lost his sight, said e-bikes “pose a hazard” to blind and visually impaired people when they are parked improperly.
A Lime spokesman said: “Correct parking is important to Lime and we take incidents of improperly parked vehicles seriously.
“This year alone we have issued hundreds of thousands of warnings and tens of thousands of fines to drivers who park illegally in London.”