Since new regulations are set to extend the existing ban for e-scooters from under-16s to under-18s, here's everything you need to know.
So, what’s happening with e-scooters? I'm confused.
Currently, e-scooters are banned for under-16s and are not allowed to go beyond a speed of 20km/h, but this is widely disregarded.
Government is now trying to clampdown on e-scooters amidst serious concerns about the number of children ending up in intensive care with serious and life-threatening injuries from them.
New regulations that will come into effect from June will extend the existing ban for under-16s to a ban for under-18s, and it will make it mandatory for everyone using an e-scooter to wear a high-vis vest and a helmet.
What will they do if I don't comply?
There will be penalties for evading the under-18 ban, and it is understood that those penalties will apply to parents who buy e-scooters for under-18s.
Fixed charge fines for breaching the rules on e-scooters, which currently start at €50 per offence, will be upped.
The Government is also planning to give gardaí greater legal clarity on when and how they can pursue someone on an e-scooter or scrambler. This will likely be modelled on the situation in the UK. As some have already pointed out, this will require more training for gardaí on how to safely pursue someone who is breaking the law.
From September, new legislation will be brought forward that is intended to create a national register of e-scooters and to put new pressures on retailers who sell them. Selling e-scooters to children and selling e-scooters that are illegal on Irish roads - that go over the 20 km/h set speed - will be banned.
Under the same law, e-scooters will be treated like any other “mechanically propelled vehicles”, which means you will need a licence and registration for them.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said on Tuesday that registration would either be run through a new system managed by retailers, or by the Revenue Commissioners, but they're still finalising that.
The Government is considering a tax and insurance model. The need to register will apply retrospectively to e-scooters that are already in use.
Why are they doing this now?
[Ireland
Daughter of woman killed by e-scooter says planned legislation is progress](https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/daughter-of-woman-killed-by-e-scooter-says-planned-legislation-is-progress-1929788.html)
Concerns about antisocial use of e-scooters have been mounting for years, and the issue attracted significant attention last week.
The parents of Grace Lynch, a 16-year-old who died after she was struck by a scrambler bike in Finglas earlier this year, called for an outright ban on e-scooters.
A report from Children’s Health Ireland also showed that an average of between one and two children are presenting at hospitals with injuries from e-scooters every day, and there has been a 50 per cent increase in admissions for traumatic brain injuries from e-scooter incidents in the last year.
But I thought they were talking about an outright ban?
They were – and both the Taoiseach and the Garda Commissioner had indicated last week that they would be willing to place such a ban. It has not been completely ruled out at the moment, and politicians have indicated it is an option that may well be returned to in the future, but the decision the Government took this week was mindful of adults who use e-scooters safely for work or their commute.