BBC
Chef Aldo Zilli, left, and his wife Nicola, right, are calling for tighter e-bike regulations after Nikki’s mother Maureen, centre, was seriously injured while crossing the road
When 83-year-old Maureen Welch set off for her weekly aqua aerobics class in October, she had no idea that her life was about to drastically change.
As she stepped into the road at a pedestrian crossing in Lewisham, south-east London, a cyclist on a Lime bike failed to stop at the red light and hit her with full force, before riding away.
“All of a sudden this bike came in between the buses and went straight into me and knocked me over,” she explains.
Maureen spent five weeks in hospital with a broken leg.
Still recovering, she now walks with a stick. There’s a commode in her living room until she can get a downstairs toilet, and wall rails have had to be fitted to help her move about.
“It’s ruined my life,” she says.
Aldo Zilli
Before the accident Maureen regularly visited Italy with her son-in-law but is no longer able to travel
Maureen’s son-in-law, Italian celebrity chef Aldo Zilli, was among the first called, along with her daughter Nikki.
“It was absolute devastation,” says Aldo.
“We are very close as a family. Maureen is a big part of our life, she helps with the business, we take her to Italy every year.
“We have had to adapt to a new life. I had to refuse work, Nicola my wife had to refuse work. It’s been life-changing for the whole family.”
“The fact that she was safe to cross the road and this happened, is unacceptable,” Nicola says.
‘No rules and regulations’
The Zilli family is now calling for tighter regulation of e-bikes.
“Me and my husband are both very keen cyclists,” says Nicola.
“But there are no rules and regulations in place for these electric bikes. They can speed, jump red lights, use their mobile phones, swerve onto pavements.
“No-one is really taking responsibility for rules and regulations to be put into place.”
Her husband agrees.
“I see it every day, people chucking them all over the pavement outside my restaurant in Kingsway,” he says.
“It’s atrocious. I’m upset and I want to take it further to be honest. I want go and meet the mayor of London and speak to him about it.”
But responsibility for managing dockless e-bikes in London, such as Lime, does not rest with the mayor of London, or any devolved mayor in England.
Some local councils have limited powers to manage designated no-parking zones and work with operators through voluntary agreements, but they can not regulate schemes; that falls to the Department of Transport.
A spokesperson for the mayor of London said: “The mayor and Tran
Read More