DUBLIN CITY Council has received no reports of any serious incidents involving people using Dublin bikes during the first 10 months of the scheme.
Garda stations around the city centre confirmed that there have been no serious incidents involving people using the bikes scheme.
The finding was described by gardaí at the city’s Pearse Street and Store Street stations as surprising, considering the volume of people that are now using the service on a regular basis.
About 37,347 people have signed up to the scheme, which will celebrate its first year in operation next month, and only one of the 450 bikes made available to commuters has gone missing since last September.
The bikes are serviced on a daily basis and have suffered limited damage, apart from “general wear and tear caused by usage”, while none has been defaced or vandalised, according to a statement from the council.
It is not essential that those hiring bikes in the capital wear safety helmets and the council does not provide the option to rent helmets at any of the 40 stations spread around the city.
Executive planner with the council Jason Frehill said the option of providing helmets to cyclists was explored but it was decided that they would not rent helmets because of hygiene concerns.
There is no issue of insurance claims arising from any potential accidents because people must agree to a number of conditions when signing up to become a subscriber to the scheme.
So far this year, there has been more than 828,688 journeys made through the scheme; 95 per cent of people are using the bikes for less than 30 minutes, which is the permitted amount of free minutes on each trip.