Waterford parents urged not to buy popular Christmas present amid ‘danger’

Waterford parents are being urged not to buy a popular Christmas present for their children.

Independent councillor Declan Barry raised the issue of e-scooters at the December plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

Cllr Barry said: “I just have one issue to raise. It’s very topical at the moment and it will be going forward and it’s regarding e-scooters.

“I’m glad to see that here in Waterford, we have a new initiative promoting the safe use of e-scooters, e-bikes and motorbikes and so on.

“You know yourself, whatever about the poor kids that are riding them, then there’s also the danger of pedestrians.”

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Cllr Barry said that these scooters are being used on roads and footpaths and that there has been a rise in accidents as a result of their popularity.

He continued: “Unfortunately, we had a fatality here in Waterford last month and none of us would like to see that poor family's Christmas.

“So I would like to see us as a council do as much as we can informing the public about the use and regulations that are there. I know it’s probably an issue for the Gardaí as well.”

Cllr Barry went on to appeal to parents not to buy their children e-scooters this Christmas.

“I am also appealing, because it’s very timely now two weeks before Christmas, to parents and guardians of youths and teenagers and so on.

“Please think long and hard before you buy your child or teenager one of these because it could be life changing for all the wrong reasons, unfortunately.”

He concluded by saying that the council had to make sure the roads and footpaths were as safe as possible for people across the city and county.

In response to Cllr Barry, Director of Services Gabriel Hynes agreed that e-scooters were a very important topic.

He stated: “I had a meeting with the gardaí this morning and the RSA. The [message] from the RSA is that there’ll be additional government awareness done.

“I’ve agreed with the gardaí that we’ll do a day of awareness in January here in Waterford in relation to e-scooters and in relation to visibility and the visibility of pedestrians.

“It’s very, very important to advise people that in relation to e-scooters, you have to be over 16 years of age to use them and you can’t use them on public footpaths.”

Mr Hynes also noted the regulations surrounding the power and weight of e-scooters.

He advised parents to only buy an e-scooter if their child is over 16 and if the scooter complies with regulations.

“I’ve spoken with the gardaí and in the last couple of weeks, they’ve issued fines and there will be court cases in January in relation to people breaching [regulations],” he added.

The sentiments of Cllr Barry were echoed by fellow independent councillor Joe Kelly, who said the issue of safety is “critical”.

Cllr Kelly stated: “What I want to say is, although the injuries and deaths are hugely regrettable, in a huge amount of these accidents, a contributing factor must be the fact that the riders of these bikes and scooters generally wear black clothing with no lights.

“Indeed, I’ve only narrowly avoided a few of them myself and many people have come to me about it.”

He called for more enforcement from the Gardaí and suggested that e-scooters should have to be insured.

“It’s probably never going to be banned but we definitely need enforcement from the Gardaí to start pulling up people.

“It’s probably another idea that all of these machines should be insured, because if any motorist is involved in any of these collisions, anything to do with insurance or anything else falls on the motorist.

“The rider who may well be [...] at fault gets away with all of this scott free and I think that’s just not on, so that’s something that needs to be looked at.”

In response to Cllr Kelly, Mr Hynes reminded him of the regulations already in place.

He stated: “In relation to e-scooters, if the e-scooter is above a certain kilowatt it needs to be insured so that’s very, very important. It’s like a motorcycle, it needs to be insured.”

Mr Hynes said that there has been more enforcement from the gardaí in recent weeks and that the council executive agreed with him on the issue of visibility.

He again noted the RSA awareness campaign that is set to launch in January, as well as the local campaign to be run by the council and the gardaí.

He continued: “Just to advise people who are selling e-scooters, to ensure what they are selling is in accordance with regulations because if they are selling e-scooters that are of a higher spec then what’s really required they [could be facing] prosecution.

“In fairness to the gardaí, they have called around to the suppliers and have advised them of [...] what’s appropriate to be selling and what’s legal within the legislation.”

“We’ll see a lot of awareness in January,” Mr Hynes concluded.