Divisions have emerged within the Cabinet over plans to bring in laws that would classify e-scooters in the same category as motorcycles and cars.
The proposed reclassification of e-scooters as mechanically propelled vehicles (MPVs) was decided at a meeting of Government leaders last month, convened in response to the high number of injuries sustained by e-scooter users, especially children.
The meeting was attended by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and Minister of State for Road Safety Seán Canney.
A statement released afterwards advised that legislation would be introduced in the autumn “to treat e-scooters as all other mechanically propelled vehicles, and there will be a requirement for licensing and registration”. It also noted that an outright ban on e-scooters “remained on the table”.
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Canney last week said the intention is to reclassify e-scooters as MPVs in the autumn. This would be done by introducing amendments to another Bill related to road laws, the National Vehicle and Driver File Bill, which is expected to come before the Oireachtas after the summer recess, he said.
He said there will be a registration system for e-scooters, meaning the owner and “whoever sells it” will be known. However, Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien later sounded a note of caution.
“I think further discussions with regard to the classification of e-scooters as MPVs need to take place,” he said.
If e-scooters were to be classified as MPVs, drivers could require licences, tax, registration and, possibly, insurance. It might also create a need for a testing regime for e-scooter drivers.
It is understood concerns have been expressed in internal discussions that these requirements, especially around insurance, might be too onerous, especially as the maximum speed limit for e-scooters will remain at 20km/h.
It has been argued that classifying e-scooters as MPVs could have chilling effect on those who use them responsibly, and ultimately end up being a de facto ban.
O’Brien told The Irish Times that any changes to their classification should be done in tandem with existing laws, such as clamping down on e-scooters that have been amended to travel at more than 20km/h and ensuring children do not use them.
“There are lots of people who use e-scooters appropriately and use them within the 20km/h limit,” he said. “We have to make sure that people using them appropriately aren’t penalised either, so that’s why the regulations need to be focused in the area that we need attention.”
O’Brien said he attended a United Nations meeting on road safety last month and it was clear that many other countries were grappling with the same issues around e-scooters.
It was also decided at a Government meeting on July 29th to introduce a requirement for all e-scooter drivers to wear helmets and high-visibility jackets, and to change the minimum age for those allowed to use an e-scooter on a public road from 16 to 18.
The fees for the release of detained e-scooters will also be doubled from €40 to €80 for the first day, with an additional charge of €30 for each subsequent day.
Canney and O’Brien are expected to introduce the rules on protective wear this week but the change to the minimum age has been deferred until later in the autumn.
The Attorney General is said to have advised that the Government must send a Technical Regulations Information System notification to the European Commission, informing it of the proposed change, before it can happen.
Canney said he accepted there may be a question around insurance should the classification of e-scooters change.
“The buyer will have to be registered. There will be licence plates on them, and the only question then is: will they be insured? And we said we would look at that as well,” he said.
“It’s not set in stone that we’re going to do it.”
The notification requires EU states to share changes in regulations on product rules with the commission before introducing them.
