Call for mandatory high-vis jackets for e-scooter riders after ‘near-misses’ on Tipperary roads
High visibility (high vis) jackets or bibs should be compulsory for e-scooter riders, according to a Tipperary councillor, who said that he had witnessed a number of “near-misses” on the county’s roads recently.
At the January meeting of Tipperary County Council, Fianna Fáil councillor JP O’Meara tabled a motion that the council should write to Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien, seeking the introduction of mandatory high vis jacket wearing for all e-scooter users in an attempt to make the roads safer for all.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr O’Meara said riders of e-scooters were posing a danger on Tipperary’s roads, particularly during the dark winter evenings.
"We all know with the speed and silence that these e-scooters are moving at, it is next to impossible to see them coming at times, especially during the winter months, which is causing safety risks for both the users and pedestrians,” Cllr O’Meara said,
"A high vis bib or jacket would increase their visibility to other road users considerably, especially drivers,” he added.
The call comes as three e-scooter riders died in Ireland last year.
"The rules we currently have in place for e-scooter riders flies in the face of other road safety campaigns, such as ‘be safe, be seen’. Visibility is a fundamental aspect of road safety and should not only be encouraged, but instilled on all road users from a young age,” the Fianna Fáil councillor said.
Agreeing with Cllr O’Meara’s motion, Fine Gael councillor John Fitzgerald said the motion was needed, and that he knew of a local lady who was run over by an e-scooter in England over Christmas.
"Just at Christmas, a client of mine an elderly lady, who was travelling in England to see her sister, was run over by an e-scooter, broke her pelvis and her arm, and had a lengthy stay in hospital,” Cllr Fitzgerald said.
"These things are just deadly on the roads, they are not regulated properly, and to be treated the same as bicycles is not comparing apples with apples at all.
"Cllr O’Meara is 100pc right, and I think the more noise made about these, the better. Nobody is being a killjoy, but quite honestly, it’s going to be serious,” he added.
However, concerns have been raised about how any new safety measures for e-scooter riders would be enforced.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast this week, the editor of CompleteCar.ie, Shane O'Donoghue said that there are too few gardaí to enforce the rules around e-scooter safety.
“Unfortunately, I think we have a major issue, a much bigger issue, which is enforcement of the existing rules, never mind adding new rules - and I think that's at the core of our issue here,” he told Newstalk Breakfast.
“One of the core things, I believe, is enforcement and far too few gardaí on the road,” he said.
Following Cllr O’Meara’s motion, the council confirmed that it would write to the Minister for Transport seeking his consideration of the proposal.