Near-miss after Lime scooter brakes allegedly tampered with in Dunedin

A Lime e-scooter user in Dunedin believes his brakes were deliberately tampered with. Photo / Getty Images

A Lime e-scooter user involved in a near-miss in a Dunedin street yesterday morning believes someone deliberately tampered with the brakes of two scooters.

The incident, reported to police, has prompted Lime to tell users to check brakes are working before they ride.

The man, who did not want to be named, made a complaint to police yesterday afternoon, and said the behaviour was ''really stupid''.

He was travelling down Serpentine Ave about 9.45am when he tried to slow and realised his scooter's brakes were faulty.

After examining the scooter, he said he was ''very confident'' it had been deliberately interfered with, saying two screws in the disc brake system had been pulled out.

He was experienced with bikes that had the same brake mechanism.

''It's really stupid. Somebody could get really badly injured.''

He said he also found another scooter with brake cables unscrewed in the Queens Gardens area.

Police confirmed they had received a report of brakes being tampered with, and were investigating.

Lime encouraged riders to make sure the brakes worked.

''We investigate all concerns that are reported to us, and our operations team is responsive in collecting and repairing scooters with such issues,'' Lime said.

''In the case of any potential tampering, we urge users to also double-check critical functionality of scooters, such as brakes, before they ride.''