One-year-old boy loses his finger after it gets stuck in e-bike chain

The father of a toddler who lost his finger after getting it caught in the chain of an electric bike in London regulations for rental bikes.

Ignacio, a 33-year-old father of two, said his one-year-old son Leopoldo’s finger was snatched by the chain of a Tier dockless e-bike in New Bond Street.

He told the Telegraph Leopoldo had been allowed out of his pram for a matter of moments in August when he accidentally put pressure on the pushbike’s pedal, crushing his finger in the belt and almost completely severing it.

His terrified mother, who had been taking the youngster and his sister to meet their father after work, rushed him to hospital to have the finger reattached.

Doctors concluded after a number of checkups that the finger could not be saved and had the majority of it amputated.

Ignacio – who did not give his second name – believes that if the bicycles were required to be parked in designated spaces, his son would never have lost his finger.

He said: ‘We have contacted the Mayor of London and informed him of the awful event and we hope he tackles the current situation of these bikes on the pavements, which are causing a menace to Londoners.

‘We want action, so nobody goes through what we have had to.’

Dockless cycles are unlocked via an app and do not need to be parked at a docking station when no longer needed – meaning they are regularly seen abandoned on London’s roads.

The youngster’s father has urged the Mayor of London to act on regulating the ‘careless’ firms behind the bikes – such as Tier, Forest and Lime – so their vehicles pose less of a danger to young children and the wider public.

But the Mayor’s office does not have the power to regulate rental bikes and says it is pushing the Government to give it more controls to improve safety.

Ignacio added: ‘Due to the carelessness of Tier, his life will be changed forever, physically and emotionally.’

The e-bike rental sector is largely unregulated. Individual councils enter into agreements with dockless bicycle companies, allowing them to operate in their local area with seeming impunity.

In a statement, London’s walking and cycling commissioner Will Norman said: ‘My thoughts are with Leopoldo and his family after what must have been an extremely traumatic incident.

‘Cities currently lack the power to regulate dockless rental bike providers. We need urgent legislation from the Government to give cities the powers properly to manage dockless e-bikes to improve safety, ensure parking is better controlled and to provide a better user experience to customers.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: ‘Local authorities already have powers to prohibit pavement parking through local regulation.

‘We have consulted on further helping them address the problem and a response will be published in due course.’

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