https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0515/1449245-escooter-regulations/
Wasn't expecting this, but seems pretty straightforward. I'd say the Gardai in the inner cities are rubbing their hands at the prospect of being able to stop some of these little fuckers.
Main thrust:
- You have to be 16 or over to drive an e-scooter
- Max speed of 20km/h, max output of 0.4KW
- Every scooter has to be built with a "manufacturer's plate", which has the vehicle spec, uniquie serial number, etc on it
- Otherwise has to be basically the same as any other vehicle; two independent brakes, lights front and rear, roadworthy condition, etc.
As much as I think any alternative form of transport should be as deregulated as possible, we've gotten to the point where some of these lads are taking the piss with their 100km/h scooters.
by asdrunkasdrunkcanbe
26 comments
Garda will do nothing as per usual
Under 18 don’t carry ID
Edit:
gg whoever reported this using Reddit care resources.
Great news. Near me in Galway I’ve seen kids (13/14) on electric scooters (two per scooter) going the wrong way along a cycle lane at a busy junction. Nearly hit them as they are unexpected. It definitely needed some regulation.
> I’d say the Gardai in the inner cities are rubbing their hands at the prospect of being able to stop some of these little fuckers
The Gardai will do fuck all to enforce this in the inner cities, same as they do fuck all to enforce any other laws
Can we do smartphones next?
Yeah, best of luck with that. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on. We have 14 year olds up where I am driving around with stolen motorbikes and mopeds. The gaurds don’t give a bollox
Laws are only important if they are enforced, when was the last time people saw the Gardai chasing down cyclists for breaking red lights? Or cycling the wrong way down the road? Our roads are lawless right now and Gardai have an ever growing list of things they have to look out for and never enough resources.
I would imagine given the trouble they are as far as transporting drugs go it’s a good excuse to stop people or seize them if needs be.
Is this not slower than the average speed of a bicycle ?
That seems barmy to have a limit on speed on one and not the other.
<checks date> nope not April fools day……
These regulations are horseshit and won’t be enforced on daily basis. The little scrotes around here don’t give a shit anyway so will carry on as normal.
They already don’t do a lot to enforce current laws on the road… This ban is just a cope out by politicians. They can say they did something. In practice this won’t do anything
I didn’t know escooters were legal in the first place.
Great to see it.
These scooters can be incredibly dangerous on footpaths especially.
Next thing that needs to be done is cracking down on bikers doing wheelies flying up the middle of the road.
It’s good to see the Gardaí getting powers to deal with this. Now we need to pass laws that cover them to pursue and knock down motorbikes and scooters.
Ironically, the 16s and lower-aged get lighter injuries, and when they do- they bounce back much quicker than 40s-up
Lip service, nothing else. Just like scramblers. Nothing will be done.
is this headline wrong? is the important part that e-scooters will be LEGAL from next week???
finally, normal commuters who use these wont have a threat that a guard can confiscate and destroy them if you are just using them.
In the UK you need a driving license, “You must have the category Q entitlement on your driving licence to use an e-scooter”
Remeber people, the law is only for the Middle Class…
100km/h is not a scooter – it’s a motorcycle by law.
Also there were 1100 accidents with bicycles resulting in over 200 heavily injured and 9 deaths last year. 5 times more than e scooters and 9 times more deaths.
I just love the stupidity of this approach. When something is giving you opportunity and a few morons will exploit the solution, then let’s accommodate the law to satisfy those few morons actions instead of just taking those idiots off the streets and be done with it.
Perhaps this law is aimed as much towards drivers, pedestrians and cyclists who get into collisions with these guys. With this law in place it would make it so that the under-16 would *always* be at fault should something occur on the road, as you often do see them taking the piss on one-way roads and on footpaths.
They might as well bring in legislation banning bad vibes. The problem begins with the Gards and ends with the courts.
Anything that doesn’t address the problems in those two institutions first will be a paper tiger.
Another law for the garda to not enforce that’s all
I wish they’d make them legal in the UK
This is much-needed, I cycle every day, and it’s like the wild west out there at the moment, more illegal scooters and electric bikes than not, it seems to me. People doing 40-50kmh on a scooter with no helmet, it’s crazy.
Yeah, it needs more enforcement. I cycle every day around Dublin, and have yet to see any guards out doing checks on vehicles, despite a raft of illegal ones flying up the quays every day, or on the main road of the Phoenix Park, just a couple of hundred metres from Garda HQ.
But legislation to distinguish more clearly the legal from the illegal ones is welcome.
Electric scooters are the least of Dublin’s inner city worries. The lads do be on scramblers playing chicken with oncoming traffic.
Haha as if they’ll enforce that