Council discuss e-scooter ban
E-scooters will be banned for under 18s under proposals agreed by Government leaders on Monday.
New legislation will also be introduced meaning e-scooter users will require licenses and registration.
Although not yet agreed upon by Ministers, a Waterford councillor said he supports an outright ban.
Children's Health Ireland (CHI) confirmed last week that admissions of children and young people for traumatic brain injuries (TBI) resulting from e-scooter accidents have increased by 50% in the last twelve months.
Prior to May 2024, when legislation was passed making e-scooters legal on Irish roads, only one child had been admitted with a brain injury due to an e-scooter crash. Almost 40 have been admitted since.
Many children involved in these incidents were travelling at high speeds, and some were carrying passengers ("doubling"), increasing the risk of severe injury.
During a meeting of Waterford’s Comeragh District last week, the matter was discussed further.
Cllr John O’Leary said he is in favour of banning e-scooters.
“It has become a national problem and there is a vast amount of young people being injured on our roads from e-scooters" he said.
“We need to support what the government are talking about here, which is in some cases banning e-scooters, which I would be in favour of. I think they are putting our young people at risk.
Cllr O’Leary also said e-scooters pose risks for pedestrians using footpaths.
He said there needs to be more regulation or responsibility on the people who are selling e-scooters to minors.
“This is clearly happening” he said.
Waterford Council’s Senior Executive Roads Engineer, Maria Goff, said that local authorities are limited in their capacity to tackle the matter.
“It would be a matter for An Garda Siochana. It is a national issue, and it wouldn’t be something for the local authority” she said.
(Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme)
