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LAST UPDATE | 16 Feb 2021
GARDÁI ARE TO be given powers to seize scramblers and quad bikes on the spot if they breach new laws aimed at clamping down on anti-social use of the vehicles.
Proposals which went to Cabinet today will also seek to allow gardaí to enter private properties with a warrant to remove the vehicles for the first time.
The legislation put forward also aims to introduce specific measures which would prohibit the use of bikes on public or private land without permission from the landowner.
Transport Minister Eamonn Ryan said he was “determined” to stop the misuse of quad bikes and scramblers by making it an offence to use them in areas which were not covered by current road traffic legislation.
Statistics released by the HSE showed that 62 people were injured last year in accidents involving off-road vehicles like scrambler bikes.
In the period between 2014 and 2019, three of the six people who died in Ireland as a result of an incident involving a quad bike or scrambler were aged 18 or under, according to statistics from the Road Safety Authority.
Up until now, the use of scramblers and quads on certain lands wasn’t covered by road traffic legislation. Amendments to the upcoming Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill are to be made shortly that will regulate their use for the first time.
The use of such vehicles hit the headlines when an Armenian man, Ilabek Avetian, suffered devastating injuries after being struck by a scrambler while sunbathing with his wife in a park in Darndale on Dublin’s northside.
Avetian lost an eye and suffered brain injuries as a result of the crash.
At the time, better law enforcement – rather than the roll-out of new legislation – was put forward by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar as a potential solution to the anti-social use of the vehicles. However, a number of Fianna Fáil TDs and opposition politicians called for more to be done.
While mechanically-propelled vehicles are already regulated in public places under the Road Traffic Act, the new measures will cover other plots of land including other designated parks, green spaces, and waste ground.
It is understood that the change in legislation will not affect farmland where consent is given for the use of the vehicle.
Other avenues of regulation and enforcement are also being developed through an inter-departmental working group chaired by the Department of Justice.
St Patrick’s Day
Ministers also heard a memo brought by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin on how the government plans to support this year’s St Patrick’s Festival.
Martin has committed up to €1 million in programme funding from her Department, an addition to the €400,000 in business continuity funding through Fáilte Ireland for events.
The minister is understood to want the festival platform to provide much needed employment opportunities for creators and performers who would traditionally have found much work around St Patrick’s Day.
While the full details of the festival will be announced tomorrow, it will include a dedicated TV channel for the “St Patrick’s Festival Online TV”.
Funding will go towards the festival and related activities, with a special dedicated online channel this year.
“A hybrid approach” involving a mix of outdoor, broadcast, digital and tech events and activities, for all ages and communities, will be the model for the festival.
A special RTE St Patrick’s Day broadcast will also be on air, as well as virtual parade, due to this year’s parade being cancelled.
Contains reporting by Stephen McDermott.
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This should have been done years ago. Lives might have been saved. Ill never forget that story about that poor couple sunbathing in the park in Dublin
@Kyle: it should have been and they should start putting in some proper rules and regulation around electric scooters that are all over the place now, usually very poorly lit up, if lit up at all.
@Jim Lingk: Yes, the new ‘Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill’ is just about to be brought in. E-scooters and e-bikes are catered for in the legislation. Good news!
@Kyle: Absolutely agree. That was an awful episode in Darndale. One of many, sadly.
@Kyle: Indeed, that was horrific, an awful crash.
@Jim Lingk: can you see them? If you can see a scooter at max 25kmh, then it’s up to you to be safe. Out of interest, the guards have been very tough in confiscation of escooters, which so far have caused 0 deaths and 0 injuries to third parties. Their priorities were really messed up that they were afraid to tackle these death traps that have, while targeting hard working immigrants trying to get to work.
@Brynþór Patrekursson:
I have seen them dart out across traffic, I have seen them on footpaths. I have seen them unlit with the user wearing dark clothes. There are not many at the moment but I see them being used irresponsibly by some people. The biggest issue is the lack of lights, in my experience. A bicycle should have front and rear lights and reflectors. The e scooters should too. I have seen some with a small rear light. Maybe that’s on them all but it’s not turned on on them all. I saw a guy last night using a flashlight in his left hand while steering the thing with his right hand.
Also I am almost certain I read of a user being killed off one of these scooters last year.
@Jim Lingk: New laws include front and back lights, no footpath usage, 25kmh speed limiter, no under 17’s. Please don’t tar all escooter riders with the same brush. I use cycle lanes, high visibility clothing and a helmet at all times. I also drive when I really need to, so I pay my road tax.
@Stephen Deegan: I didn’t tar them all with the same brush. I’m glad to hear about the new regulations, particularly around the lights and footpath use. They are a good mode of transport.
About time this was finally sorted out. There a total nightmare having to listen to bikes getting reved up and flying around on grass areas for hours
@Hugh Mc Donnell: And when the fumes clear, you get to see the whole green torn up from them.
@Hugh Mc Donnell: lol makes zero difference you have to catch them and guards are not allowed chase criminals in these bikes so unenforceable law is bad law
@Tom Ripley: that’s what I thought unless gardai get bigger scramblers to out run them
Why are they sold , nip it in the bud from the source.
then sell them to farmers and licensed sports group members not johnny and billo from the corner.
@Darren Byrne: How would stopping be sold stop all the ones that are out there already?
@Mattress Dick: you might also be aware that rural kids use them on public roads as well, putting their and others lives at risk. If they are being used in (private) farmland, then this isn’t impacted, but when young tadgh is using it for thrill seeking or churning up a beach, it will be confiscated as well as Damo in Darndale (apologies to any reason, law abiding Damo).
@Brynþór Patrekursson: Ivor uses a scrambler over in Foxrock too
@Mattress Dick: lm sure he means to people in city settings … im sure you realised that …
As if 1) they will bother to show up and 2) they will manage to chase and catch them
Like any law having them is of little point if they aren’t enforced.
@JustBEERbarry:
A bit like comma’s
@Lotus: it’s commas not comma’s.
@Joey Navinski:
You missed the irony
@Lotus: Not really. Or at all, in fact.
Thumbs up to the government, it’s only taken approximately fifteen years to finely do something about this menace.
It doesn’t say if the Gardai can destroy them? Whats the point in seizing them if the parents can just go the next day to collect them. Need fines aswell, but is is a step in the right direction
And just like that everyone had horses again
About time
Now them electric scooters next, scooters should be seized if on a footpath, poor woman in phisboro got hit by a scooter last Friday, OK she was shocked & not hurt as she was young, but an elderly person it would/could be a different outcome
@Looney Tunes: What about these blimmin yo-yo’s that youngsters do be playing with, up and down they go with gay abandon. They could take an eye out! Such a dangerous world.
@Looney Tunes: it’s the law that puts them on the pavement, which will be sorted soon. As long as you treat them as bicycles and they stay under 25, then they should be legal. I guess your the sorry that will be complaining about pesky bicycles taking up the road/running red lights anyway, so face facts that you will never be happy in a city.
@Alan Biddulph: definitely is a dangerous world out there, you be careful with your yo yo,
Should be interesting, will be hard for them.
@Mary Nugent: yeah unless the gardai actually have scrambler bikes themselves they won’t be able to touch them on a wet mucky Park area.
@Mary Nugent: No bother, sure they have bicycles,, and those modern em! horses I think they call them.
Will the HSE release data on the amount of injuries sustained by cyclists over a single year due to poor cycle lane maintenance and non segregation from buses and taxis. It dwarfs the figures stated in the article. That’s not to ignore the damage that’s caused by the said vehicles. But prioritise safety for cyclists who the government are actively encouraging to ditch their cars for commuting in the city.
@Mick Andrews: I agree with you 100%. The cycle lanes or lack there of needs to be addressed. And more cyclists means less cars in urban areas. That being said there also needs to be a some sort of laws or framework to hold cyclists to account, as a small minority of cyclists are breaking the most basic rules of the road. Cycling on the road when there is a cycle lane available. Breaking red lights. Weaving in and out through traffic congestion. And insurance is another issue. If I had an accident with a cyclist, in which I had done nothing wrong, myself and my insurance company could still be looking at paying out if an injury to a cyclist occurred.
@Andy mc Laughlin: all road infractions are equally applicable to guards, and they can confiscated pedals bicycles if they cross red lights. It’s not held up in convictions because it usually a guards ‘opinion’/bias, but those laws are there. As you haven’t done your research on this, it’s obvious that you don’t know the situation about insurance involving cyclists (similar to all Europe, there is a fund, you don’t need to find details of to the cyclist because the damage isn’t “car level”). You also omit the huge issue here which is presumed liability – in grown up countries, the bigger vehicle is presumed to be at fault. Here, a truck can plough into a child, and the child is at fault while the driver gets away, same in a car pulling out over a cycle lane – the car owner is usually protected; don’t come on here with non facts unless you can justify this.
@Brynþór Patrekursson: the gardai cannot seize a car for a road infraction so what makes you think they can do that for a cyclist? In a country where a person can literally admit they weren’t looking at the road and drive over a cyclist and serve no time in prison i question your view that motorists are always assumed guilty and punished.
@Brynþór Patrekursson: So the gardi need to be on hand to catch the cyclist breaking the law? Other than that there is no way to identify the law breaker because unlike cars the cyclist doesn’t have a registration plate. Don’t you agree this needs to change? Also no law should be enforced at the gardai discretion, this would be helped greatly if the same level of policing was enforced on cyclists as it is to motorists. And can you please supply a reference to access this insurance fund as I have done research and cannot find it. And again I’m not against cyclists and as iv had a car damaged previously by a cyclist I would have liked this information on the fund for insurance to cover costs
@Mick Andrews: You should add the category of cyclists who seem to believe they have a human right to ride at night without working lights or any consideration for other road users (pedestrians, drivers, riders) as they try to avoid them. These bikes should be seized as well on road safety grounds and destroyed by the gardai.
@Andy mc Laughlin:
‘a small minority of cyclists are breaking the most basic rules of the road’
id be happy to share my dashcam footage of any average day driving in Dublin – i assure you this statement is way way way wide of the mark.
@Dave Hammond: I used this remark as I don’t want to tar everyone with the same brush. You are right though it is particularly bad in big urban areas.
@Dave Hammond: I can walk out my door and see 60 cars parked on the path. All illegally parked and also guilting of driving on the footpath. They also did a study of who broke red lights in Dublin. Motorists did it more than cyclists. What you have is selection bias and ignore the motorists breaking rules.
@Dave Hammond: OK, so hands up all the drivers who didn’t go even 1kmph over the speed limit in the last week?
No-one?
No, not even me.
@Craic_a_tower: er, the gardai can seize a car for a number of traffic infractions – they seize scooters for not having an NCT, but they can seize cars for not having NCT, tax or dangerous driving. Alan – yes guards need to catch most crimes, including traffic, that’s why we have courts and both cyclists and (more often) motorists assist before them – primarily on the basis of being “caught”.
I’m delighted also, used to wake us up early on Saturday and Sunday mornings chasing up and down our residential street.
Proper order !! And long overdue.
Only one problem, Gardai are not allowed to chase these bikes, so the new legislation won’t be worth the paper it’s written on. Garda management needs to address this, or the government needs to cover that aspect aswell.
@Damo: Helicopters with nets? Could be a whole new viral story.
@Damo: if the drivers are known to the Guards then the scramblers can be seized from their homes, no need to give them the thrill of a chase.
@EillieEs: if the driver is known and if there face is covered by a mask or helmet and they can prove they were the one driving…. then yes get them later
Yes, but build a few motocross tracks and provide a bit of funding so that these youngsters can have a bit of fun in a supervised and relatively safe way. They would likely also benefit in other ways from the discipline of being involved in organised sport. Talk to the MCUI.
@LaRoucheIrishBrigade: that’s a great idea
Should it not say ‘without a warrant’ ? Otherwise the law seems pointless or am I missing something?
@John Murphy: no. The constitution protects private property and Gardai need a lawful reason to enter onto private property. Also the seize property Gardai need a lawful excuse and in the act of committing a crime is sufficient but after the fact is more difficult. The warrant solves both these problems. It also means that if the drivers is known to Gardai they don’t need to necessarily chase them down but simply wait till they return home.
Give the garda the power to chase then not much good if they can’t
@Lorcan Murphy: I’d imagine it’s the same issue with joyriders in stolen cars. Can hardly chase after them like wolves. You’d end up with more unnecessary crashes and injuries.
About time
if your engaged in illegal activities and get injured that person or their family should not be allowed the make a claim .
Brilliant should have been done years ago
Boomers doing what boomers do best, complaining..
So many kids around here get these for Christmas, I’m glad they’ll actually be able to do something.
One kid used to fly his up and down right outside the local shops until he ran into the delivery car for the chipper and both were injured.
Thankfully it wasn’t too bad, so I hope that he learnt his lesson.
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