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E-scooter file photo. Shutterstock
e-scooters
Green Party leader calls for clampdown on retailers targeting e-scooter sales towards children
The comments came following an increased number of e-scooter related incidents in recent days.
GREEN PARTY LEADER Roderic O’Gorman has said the law needs to clamp down on retailers selling e-scooters.
This followed reports that Sean Canney, junior minister for road safety wants to impose stricter regulations.
Proposed measures would include mandatory registration for e-scooters as well as tax and insurance obligations similar to cars.
The proposed measures come as six children were admitted to Temple Street hospital ICU in recent days following e-scooter related accidents.
This forced consultants to call for an outright ban and warned that more and more children were being left with permanent brain injuries.
Speaking in Cork last week, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that such a figure puts an onus on the government to take action.
The Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers spoke about the matter in the Dáil today, stating that e-scooter regulations “need to change”.
During Leader’s Questions, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the country has been “shocked” by reports of “children now fighting for their lives because of e-scooter crashes”.
The government’s policy is “slow, fragmented, wholly inadequate”, she added. The gardaí need greater enforcement powers and penalties, said McDonald.
Chambers said he shared her “significant” concerns around the vehicles, and said Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, told him a review of regulations is under way.
Tighter laws
In May 2024 new laws indicated that users of e-scooters must be at least 16 years old and that a speed limit of 20km must be obeyed. It also banned e-scooters on public footpaths.
In April this year, the government introduced Graces Law, named after Grace Lynch (16) who lost her life in an incident with a scrambler bike.
This banned the use of scramblers in public spaces and gave gardaí the power to instantly seize the devices.
Speaking to the media in Leinster House today, O’Gorman emphasised the need for stricter regulations on businesses selling e-scooters.
”We know there are e scooters on the market in Irish shops that are being advertised towards kids when it is illegal to sell any sort of e-scooter to someone over the age of 16’’, said the party leader.
He also noted there are e-scooters advertised that go beyond the 20km speed limit stated in law.
These are core issues to be addressed in an upcoming meeting between the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the transport committee.
The party leader believed there was a ”real question of how commercial providers are able to openly flout the law” in terms of e-scooter legislation.
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