Before going to bed, Rebecca Downes and her partner Patrick Ramsey were always vigilant about unplugging equipment in the house.
Having lost her childhood home in a fire caused by an electrical fault, Rebecca had good cause to be cautious.
So, when Patrick brought home an electric bike one evening, they decided to charge it in the bedroom rather than in the kitchen, so they could keep an eye on it just to be safe.
What happened, in the three minutes after Patrick connected the lithium-ion battery charger to the wall, is the stuff of nightmares.
The battery, which measured about 14 x 3.6 inches, exploded like a Roman Candle, Patrick would recall afterwards, with bits of metal entrenching in their skin, as flames and toxic smoke immediately consumed the room.
As the burning battery was blocking the door, the couple’s only means of escape was to leap 30 feet from their second-floor window.
While Patrick survived, albeit requiring months of hospital care, Rebecca, a mother of four, died from the horrendous injuries she suffered in the fall.
The coroner presiding over the inquest into her demise last month was told that if that hadn’t killed her, her 60 per cent burns would have done.
Her sister Julie Downes said that these batteries are deadly when they catch fire and that Becky didn’t stand a chance. It’s not like charging a mobile phone, which has just three volts and would probably smoulder, allowing plenty of time to get out.
She said that these e-bike batteries contain up to 52 volts (17 times as many) making them, she believes, far too dangerous to risk charging at home.
She added that after what they’ve been through, and to prevent further loss of life, would like to see all e-bikes and e-scooters completely banned.
According to safety campaigners, fires from electrically powered scooters and bikes have caused eight deaths and at least 190 injuries in the United Kingdom since 2020, and are said to be the cause of at least six fires a week.
What happened to Rebecca, who was 44, and her family is a particularly harrowing example of the possible risks they pose.
The inquest into Becky’s death last year heard how the couple owned a bike shop in their home town of Blackpool, and had recently started trading in electric bikes and scooters.
The weekend before the fire, Patrick had taken a bike to a friend who specialised in electronics, as there appeared to be an issue with the battery.
This was a terrible accident, but the Government are pushing these electric vehicles at the expense of common sense. The idea is safe, but no quality control, but this could have been preventable by the manufacturer. There appears to be no law on safety standards, so if there are no standards, people purchase more affordable models with poorly produced batteries.
Can you imagine the carnage when this starts happening with electric cars?
Both e-bikes and e-scooters are also a menace to pedestrians and should be banned outright. People just dump them in the middle of the pavement so that people can’t get past them.
Any kind of scooter that has to be charged should never be left inside the home. They should be left outside in a well-ventilated area. After all, you wouldn’t keep a petrol can in the house, would you?
And electric cars are no different because if your electric car goes up in flames, the fire can’t be put out because of the lithium battery.
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