E-scooters to require registration from September under new crackdown

The move follows agreement by coalition leaders on proposals to ban e-scooters for under-18s. Measures requiring all riders to wear helmets and high-visibility clothing will be brought to Cabinet next week and are expected to take effect in August.

Further legislation in September will require all e-scooters to be registered and licensed by treating them as mechanically propelled vehicles. An outright ban on e-scooters remains under consideration but was not agreed on Monday.

Mr Canney said the priority was to establish who owns and uses e-scooters.

“[What] we’re trying to do is to find out how many e-scooters we have in the country, who owns them? Who’s driving them? And who’s responsible for them? And who’s responsible for selling them?

“The issue around roadworthiness for that is something that we will have to look at in time. But the immediate thing here is to get control back on e-scooters, so that we know what we’re doing.”

He acknowledged some of the measures would affect responsible young riders but said action was necessary.

“[W]hat we have to do is make sure that we’re doing things to arrest this thing that’s happening in relation to children and their injuries.

“And nobody will thank me or thank anybody else if this continues to grow in the numbers that are getting injured and the amount of life-changing injuries that people get as a result of this.”

The Government also plans to ban the sale of e-scooters to minors and prohibit the sale of models that do not comply with legal requirements for use on public roads.

The proposals follow concerns over rising numbers of children suffering traumatic injuries in e-scooter crashes. Children’s Health Ireland said admissions for traumatic brain injuries linked to e-scooters rose by 50 per cent year on year.