Lime e-scooter ring interrupts Auckland Council announcement
What was meant to be a nice presentation of Lime scooters lined up for today's announcement, ended up setting alarm bells ringing.
Auckland Council chief operating officer Dean Kimpton revealed this morning that the Council will extend the Lime e-scooters licence for 10 weeks to the end of March.
However,something unexpected stole some of the "limelight" from the announcement during the 10.30am press conference outside AT's offices.
Something unexpected stole some of the "limelight" from the Lime press conference outside the AT offices this morning. Photo / NZ Herald
During the announcement, Kiwis thought they would juice up the speeches by using the firm's app to remotely ring the bells on the Lime scooters surrounding speakers Kimpton, Auckland Transport chief executive Shane Ellison and New Zealand Lime launcher Hank Rowe.
The Lime scooter app allows those looking for a scooter but have trouble finding its exact location to ring the scooter, which then emits a high-pitch ringing sound.
This ringing can be heard on and off during the speech, leaving Kimpton very embarrassed. Eventually he had had enough, interrupted his speech and mentioned the elephant (or should I say Lime) in the room.
"Sorry we have a Lime scooter beeping in the background," Kimpton said, laughing awkwardly.
Rowe then steps in to the rescue, offering his services to turn the scooter off.
"Hank Rowe was the lime launcher for New Zealand, he's got to be able to turn this off doesn't he?", Kimpton said.
Kiwis watching the conference live on Facebook found the whole thing amusing.
With the Lime scooter app prospective riders having trouble finding a nearby scooter's exact location can ring the scooter's bell from their phones. Photo / Michael Craig
"Keeping ringing the bell," one said.
Another joked: "Left my lime scooter outside the press conference ... nek minnit [followed by phone emojis]."
"Love how scooters are actively being stolen behind him as he talks," another wrote.
Others trying to watch the announcement found the ringing frustrating.
"Beeping the scooter once is funny, but now it's getting childish," said one angrily.
Another agreed: "The person activating the ringing scooter is a t****r."
