Scourge of riders on hazardous e-scooters
E-scooters are becoming more widespread.
The issue of motorised scooters was raised at a recent Metropolitan Council meeting, with one councillor describing his close call with an e-scooter.
Cllr John Hearne (Sinn Féin) spoke about teenagers driving e-scooters unsafely across the city. He said: "At the cross of Ballybeg, there is the junction there. It happened so quickly I couldn't see it, one of the young fellas came through the lights on a scooter and I was about to walk out onto the scooter."
Cllr Hearne asked if the Council could write to the Department of Transport over the lack of lighting on e-scooters. He said: "They should have it lit up like a Christmas tree."
Metropolitan Mayor Cllr Adam Wyse (Fianna Fáil) told Cllr Hearne: "I'm happy to write on the behalf of the Council to the Department regarding e-scooters, obviously under-16's shouldn't be on them at all."
E-scooters have exploded in popularity especially among young people. Teenagers under 16 are not permitted to ride e-scooters. A 20km/h speed limit also applies. The RSA (Road Safety Authority) and CHI Crumlin have urged parents not to buy an e-scooter for Christmas.
Last week, the Royal College of Physicians Ireland (RCPI) published a report outlining the catastrophic effects of e-scooter-related accidents. They stated that the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries in children admitted to CHI is due to e-scooter-related incidents. As reported in the Irish Examiner: "In addition, 40% of neurosurgical and ICU admissions had new issues with movement, and 80% had new difficulties with cognition noted during their inpatient admissions.
"The average length of time spent in hospital was 18.7 days, similar to the length of hospital stay after being struck by a moving car, but five times the length of stay associated with falling from a bike."
