New e-scooters claim first injury after one-handed faux pas

Concerns over the safety of new Lime e-scooters have been raised after one user met the pavement in Auckland this morning.

The Blind Foundation also had concerns that the swift scooters pose a real concern and risk for those who are blind and have low vision, spokesperson Kimberley Ross said.

Newstalk ZB producer Tom Thexton may be one of the first people to be injured by the new Lime e-scooters that have been rolled out across Christchurch and Auckland.

Thexton decided to try the scooter out during his commute to work from Kingsland to the NZME building in Auckland's CBD.

He travelled around 3.2km in 20 minutes and during the final league on the cycleway he came into trouble when he took his eyes off the prize.

"I was reaching into my pocket for something, and it felt like it applied the brakes and then I went over the handlebars."

Newstalk ZB producer Tom Thexton may be one of the first people to be injured by the new e-scooters that have been rolled out across Christchurch and Auckland. Photo / NZME

"I fell very ungracefully. They are pretty cool if you are sensible, the concept is really handy."

He fell in front of some school kids and tried to look tough, but his bleeding elbow and scratched up back said otherwise.

"You can see how people have accidents on them, they are pretty quick. You need to use a decent amount of caution to avoid any issues."

He said helmets should be compulsory, the application to access the scooters made you tick a box that "acknowledged" when riding the scooter you should wear a helmet.

Although the scooters had an age restriction he had seen two high school students using the scooters, he said.

Ross said understood there was no consultation process around the introduction of the scooters on footpaths.

Lime e-scooters were made available on the streets from Monday, with 600 scooters distributed across Auckland and 400 in Christchurch.

New Zealand Lime launcher Hank Rowe said it had worked closely with local authorities and the NZ Transport Agency to make sure all risks and safety concerns have been carefully considered and mitigated prior to launch.

Rowe said the issues it has been seeing around the world are teething issues and it will be working to remove those.

It is not necessary to wear a helmet while using the e-scooters, but the company said it encouraged users to.