EXCLUSIVE: Gardaí refuse to chase e-scooters over fear of dangerous driving charges

Some gardaí are refusing to chase e-scooters, scramblers and motorcycles for fear of being prosecuted for dangerous driving and similar offences. That's according to some serving members we've spoken to despite a new Garda policy on chasing such vehicles.

Earlier this year, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris announced a new policy that allowed gardaí to chase scramblers, motorcycles and e-scooters used in criminal endeavours, but stressed that such actions had to be “appropriate, proportionate and necessary.” Previously, gardaí were told not to engage in chases with these vehicles. An earlier circular gave gardaí licence to drive the wrong way on dual carriageways and motorways during pursuits.

At the time, Commissioner Harris said up to that point “motorbikes, scooters, etc, had been excluded from our policy, both in respect of pursuit and also the vehicle stopping devices.

“Both of those tactics are available because we just recognise the growth in the use of electric bikes and very powerful electric bikes to facilitate criminality. We have to be in a position to deal with that, and we will.”

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He also said: "It’s not about pursuing until the fuel runs out. It is about a balance, authority and the ability to pursue a vehicle. It has to be proportional and necessary as to what the outcome will be.”

A Garda spokesperson said An Garda Síochána had previously been subject of “adverse criticism, internally by various Garda Representative Associations, and mainstream media and public, that the previous pursuit policy was too restrictive.” This prompted change.

An Garda Síochána’s Spontaneous Pursuits Policy Document was issued at the beginning of 2025 after consultation with all the Garda Representative Associations.

The policy states: “It is the aim of An Garda Síochána to preserve the safety of members of the public and Garda personnel when a spontaneous pursuit is initiated.

“Where feasible, the first priority should be to prevent a pursuit from taking place. Any decision to engage in a pursuit must be done in the interests of public safety, to protect life, to prevent crime and to apprehend offender(s) in line with the statutory obligations set out in the Garda Síochána Act 2005.

“A key consideration is to ask if the pursuit is necessary and balanced against threat, risk and harm for which the subject driver is being/about to be pursued.

“Any action taken in the course of the Spontaneous Pursuit by a member of An Garda Síochána must comply with the fundamental principles, of legality, necessity, proportionality and accountability and applied in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).”

A Garda statement insisted: “The current documents provide guidance and direction to Garda personnel who in the course of their duties engage in the use of pursuit tactics and pursuit management in order to reduce the risk associated with pursuits and stopping of subject vehicles, rather than a prescriptive process.”

The reality

One serving Garda, who wishes to remain anonymous, told us that the reality on the ground is very different.

They said: "Everywhere in the policy says that we can chase everything and drive the wrong way against traffic and all this, but it says unless it is unsafe, mentioning the balance between ‘necessity, risk and harm’. When is it ever fully safe to chase someone on a bike or scooter? Definitely not when a lad is killed off a bike you're chasing.”

The Garda added: “Fiosrú (previously GSOC), in hindsight, can say it wasn't safe and the guard is at fault; there are loads of guards being prosecuted for dangerous driving. Garda management are pretending they are allowing us, but they're not really; members are more and more coming to realise that it is just our own licence, liberty and job that is on the line when we start to chase someone."

The Garda concluded: “We are working in fear of dangerous driving charges and it's making our job almost impossible.

“Everything seems weighted towards the criminal. If an e-scooter rider commits a crime in front of me and takes off down the road, I have to think twice about giving chase because it could land me in court instead of them, which could affect my job in the future.

“Criminals are wise to that too and they are operating in this lawless situation knowing when they take off, we have our hands tied behind our back and can't really give chase. E-scooters, scramblers and e-bikes have no registration plates; riders can have their faces covered and do what they want, even with a garda as a witness.”

The Garda Representative Association has previously raised concern with the new policy.

GRA delegate Mark Ferris was quoted at the time the new policy was announced as saying it is “unworkable,” adding that the new pursuit policy had been implemented “without any training framework to support it.”

He also raised the issue of serving officers facing criminal charges if chases end badly: “They [gardaí] risk criminal charges if something goes wrong, they are being provocatively filmed on social media during pursuits and they face intense scrutiny internally in terms of any perceived procedural error or disciplinary infraction.

“Yet, when they follow instruction from control not to pursue, criminals knowingly exploit this.”

In response to a request for comment on the number of serving gardaí facing dangerous driving charges related to their duty, An Garda Síochana said the query would be best directed to Fiosrú (previously GSOC). Fiosrú (previously GSOC) said the query was best put to An Garda Síochana. Neither provided a statement specifically on the matter.