Regulations are not working and gardaí are already overstretched, says TD Michael Murphy
The Fine Gael chair of the Oireachtas Transport Committee has said the Government is “tying itself up in knots” trying to regulate e-scooters and called for an outright ban on their use on public roads.
South Tipperary TD Michael Murphy said: “My question is a simple one: how much more regulation are we going to put in place before we accept that this is not working?”
The Transport Committee chair said gardaí were “already stretched” enforcing existing road traffic laws as Ireland was facing the deadliest year for road fatalities since 2010.
“We cannot pretend that introducing one regulation after another will solve the problem when enforcement itself is already a major challenge,” he said.
“Rather than tying ourselves up in further regulatory knots, I believe the Government should now bite the bullet and move to an outright ban on e-scooters on our public roads.”
The comments come as Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien and junior minister for road safety Seán Canney enacted the first set of new e-scooter regulations, which will come into force on Friday. These new regulations will make helmets and high-visibility clothing mandatory for e-scooter users.
However, the Attorney General has advised that increasing the minimum age of use for e-scooters from 16 to 18 will require a notification to the EU Commission – a process that can take up to three months.
This means those between 16 and 18 will be allowed to use e-scooters up until the end of the year, when the Government says the age restriction will be in place.
Children’s Health Ireland recently revealed that e-scooter accidents had increased by 50pc in the past year, and were the leading cause of traumatic brain injury among children admitted to Temple Street.
Mr Murphy said he carefully considered this call for a ban in recent weeks, saying now that the evidence from the gardaí and medical professionals is “extremely worrying”.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has said previously that he would “absolutely” support an outright ban on e-scooters.
Mr Murphy said that while the Government could pass more laws, “ultimately somebody has to enforce them”.
“The evidence from Children’s Health Ireland in particular should stop us in our tracks. I have listened to the arguments for regulating e-scooters and I accept that there are many people who use them responsibly.
“But there comes a point when you have to look at the evidence in front of you and be prepared to change your position. I think we have reached that point.
“It is a straightforward position, but given the evidence now before us, I believe it is the right one. Public safety has to come first.”
Dublin Bay South TD James Geoghegan said if the Government’s latest regulations did not work in the next six months, an outright ban should be brought in.
“If we are still seeing children presenting at Temple Street with these injuries after that, then I think we would have to seriously consider a ban,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Canney confirmed the Government had written to Europe over its planned legislation to change the minimum age.
“We hope [to have] that sorted out in the next couple of months,” he said, confirming plans to also bring forward further legislation as part of the National Driver Vetting File Bill to change the definition of an e-scooter to a mechanically propelled vehicle (MPV).
This would require ownership to be registered “so we know who actually owns something that’s causing an offence, so we can prosecute them”.
The minister said discussions with the Office of the Attorney General were ongoing in relation to changing the definition of an e-scooter to an MVP after it emerged that e-scooter users would require a driving licence and insurance.
Mr Canney said he would also discuss the plans with Insurance Ireland.
“It is not that there has been any dissent,” Mr Canney said, following reports of disagreement between himself and Transport Minister Mr O’Brien around the classification of e-scooters as MPVs.
“We want to make sure whatever we do is effective, will work, is enforceable, and the people who are breaking the law will understand and suffer the consequences.”
Asked whether the forthcoming legislation would be effectively a ban-by-stealth if insurance companies refuse to insure owners of e-scooters given the clampdown, the roads minister said: “My main motivation here is to make sure that we stop this horrific sight we see, where so many young children are ending up on life-support machines in our children’s hospitals, when they should be out enjoying their summer.
“Parents, young people, everybody in society has a responsibility here. We should not just think about this that laws are going to make everything right.”
Separately, Mr Canney said he had had a meeting last week with the Road Safety Authority, the Department of Justice and the Assistant Garda Commissioner following the M9 crash that left five teenagers dead.