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GARDAÍ HAVE CONFIRMED that they plan on purchasing “a lot more” e-scooter and e-bike speed testing kits, which will be distributed to garda stations across the country.
Earlier this month, The Journal revealed the first look at the kits, bench-sized dynamometers (essentially treadmills) which can be used to measure the appropriate speed of electric bicycles and scooters.
The new devices were acquired by gardaí in recent months from the Netherlands, and members of the roads policing unit have started training on the machines this week.
According to Jane Humphries, chief superintendent of the roads policing bureau, gardaí are only the second national police force in the world to use the kits.
She explained yesterday that current use of the kits is a “proof of concept” – meaning that gardaí are testing the practical use of the dynamometers before a full nationwide rollout.
“One kit has gone to each of the regions across the country,” Humphries said.
Gardaí currently have four of the dynamometers - located across the North, South, East and Dublin Metropolitan administrative regions.
“We will hopefully buy a lot more of the kits,” Humphries added.
Regulations allowing the use of e-scooters in public places came into effect last year and restricted the vehicles to a maximum speed of 20km per hour. They must also meet particular lighting and braking requirements.
For e-bikes, pedal-assisted electric bicycles, a maximum speed of 25km/h is allowed, and they must have a motor that cuts off once pedalling stops.
Under the new regulations, gardaí have the power to confiscate any device that is found to be too powerful.
The new laws also banned the use of the scooters by those under the age of 16, and banned them from having fixed seats on board.
It also prohibited the practice of two people riding on one scooter.
Humphries said that the kits will aid gardaí with prosecutions and court cases involving e-scooters.
“It is very difficult to prove speed, weight and size of an e-scooter, but this kit now gives us calibrated machines,” Humphries said.
“Hopefully we will get a few through to the courts so that we can also test them through the court process.”
Although an increasingly common mode of transport, the use of e-scooters was technically illegal until last year.
This legal anomaly meant the world’s biggest scooter-sharing firm, Lime, was prevented from launching in Ireland, The Journal revealed.
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LOL… Really? When do they plan to use the e-scooter testing kits? When garda have the occasional traffic slow down days? Or do they plan to chase down people on scooters to check speeds? Maybe these kits are a great tool to have. But, without a strategic plan of use… The purchase is a waste of money. The garda presently don’t have enough members to stop drivers in cars violating laws.
@Seriously Really: right so, you might give us a list of laws that you would want enforced.
@Seriously Really: Performative policing is a cornerstone of the Gardai. Rather than having regular adequate enforcement of speeding, drink driving and tax/insurance we have slow down days. This is just another episode in the show
@Seriously Really: Totally agree, Gardai have more than enough to do with serious crime. Regulate them for driving license, tax and insurance. They are, after all, mechanically propelled vehicles!
Saw one last night and it’s was doing at least 60kph.
@Gerard Carey: Maybe that was just a regular bike, in which case it’s okay.. for some reason.
@Gerard Carey: So. I’ve seen cyclists hitting 50 to 60 kph what’s the problem?
@Ger Whelan: Falling off a bike at that speed is the problem, besides helmets cyclists don’t wear any protective clothing which a lot motor bike users do.
@Ger Whelan: The cyclists doing 50 or 60 are rarely (if ever) on paths. They tend to stick to the roadways, where those speeds are appropriate.
@Conor: if you say so
I hate them and the muppets on them.
Maybe they should “plan” to have more of a presence on our streets
Can’t under stand why they didn’t setup a registration for import’s of e-scooter’s & e-bike’s, this could then be used as a data base for ownership & valuable information on the amount of battery recycling needed down the line.
You don’t even need a fancy machine. Just watch their performance where there is a slight incline in the road. The fancy machine will not find special button combinations or remotes.
Excellent call by Romania.
@honey badger: they clamped down on these death traps too?? Every country should in fairness
@Buster Lawless: In my day, a grifter was made by Raleigh. These days, they are manufactured by Moscow.
I would prefer the Garda to actually patrol our towns and cites to deter criminality and make our spaces safe again.
Can I flag these on Waze?
I constantly see kids on these and them being used on footpaths all the time. If the gardai don’t see this then I don’t know how they’d have the wherewithal to test scooters. It’s like the new speed limits why not try enforce the current laws
Pimp my e-scooter.
Uselesss, lazzy, obese culchies who don’t walk anywhere or respect road rules – Gardaí.
What a joke..never even been breathalysed here in 30 yrs of driving
Nobody is peddling on the e-bikes, they have them mapped to just be used like a moped. They are travelling at 30-40kph. E-scooters even faster. None of which stop for any traffic lights . I ride a motorcycle and they all beat me into the city centre.
@Noel Byrne: ebike with a throttle function which moves without pedaling is not an ebike but a moped. I bought an ebike last week and the motor cuts off at 24kph (gps). Feels great having an actual bike. I fully support banning every single “ebike” which goes forward without pedaling and speed ober 20kph. Some users race with 30+ o er footpaths, appear out of nowhere, one sudden mobe = disaster. In UK they want to introduce life sentences for ebike riders who unalive pedestrians… wonder if they do the same for car drivers…seems a bit one-sides approach, a lot more people get hit by cars than by bikes and get serious life threatening to injuries or worse.
Another nonsensical law. Approx 70% of Irish live in rural areas with hilly terrain that’s tens of kilometres from their local town. More powerful motors should be allowed for healthier, green self transport options. Its like taking cars off the road because they ‘Could’ break a speed limit
The new rules for ebikes and escooters are a nonsense of bureaucracy.
Scrap them and bring in practical laws that can be obeyed, enforced, and keep people safe.
Eg instead of separate speed limits for different classes of vehicle, just make them follow whatever speed limit is in force on the road in question. Traffic will flow properly, no ridiculous devices needed by Gardai.
Plenty kids under 16 used scooters safely before these new laws to commute to school. Now mammy has to drive them so more traffic and congestion. Are the Gardai expected to chase scooter users because they have a reasonable suspicious they look under 16?
EU court already ruled if can’t start by throttle alone (ie need to pedal or push) then they’re not a Mechanically Propelled Vehicle, so no insurance.
BUT, we know accidents will happen, so the state should have a system to compensate victims of accidents.
And eMopeds – who thought that one up? Everywhere else in Europe they are categorised as speed pedelecs. Why a useless new category here?
I’d like to see a safety focused organisation given government funds to provide proper training to anyone that wants to use an escooter or ebike on the road. Like a mini-IBT that motorcyclists need to do. But please focus it on safety, not money-making, as all the RSA schemes appear to be.
14 year old kids in France can get valuable low speed driving experience in quadricycles like Renault Duo. Short safety test 1st and off they go. No ridiculous insurance premium needed either, like a 17 year old I know just paid 2 grand for A1 motorcycle.
There are plenty sensible traffic regulations that could be introduced to promote safety and cut congestion. Gardai toys to check speed are not the answer.
have your say