A CHILD ban on e-scooters will be a safety game changer for towns like Letterkenny, it was claimed just days before a proposed law change.
The Government is set this week to hike the legal age limit of e-scooters this week from 16 to 18.
It will be the second time that the law is changed in two years, following medical specialists’ warnings that the vehicles pose a death threat.
Former Letterkenny cathaoirleach, Cllr Ciaran Brogan, is convinced that new measures to be introduced amid the Government’s legal shake-up are necessary to save lives.
Cllr Brogan was speaking before the latest e-scooter fatality.
A male e-scooter user died in a collision with a car around 1.45am yesterday (Sunday) in Navan, Co Meath. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A woman was hospitalised in Letterkenny last September, while 12 e-scooter users have been killed nationwide since 2021, including three this year, with over 250 seriously injured, according to Road Safety Authority (RSA) figures.
E-scooters could be outlawed for children.
Cllr Brogan told the Donegal News: “I welcome the proposals. Everyone knows of the dangers of e-scooters.”
“We need new regulations and I have raised this in recent months. People, especially elderly people, have felt intimated and unsafe on footpaths.
“It is already illegal to use e-scooters, but hopefully now the new proposals will make things safer.
“E-scooters have been dangerous and I am aware of concerning incidents in the town on footpaths. The public need to be aware of the dangers.”
The Government proposals include an age increase to 18, mandatory helmet and hi-visibility vests, and possibly insurance and registration plates.
Letterkenny University Hospital emergency medicine consultant Dr Aine Keating. Photo: HSE.
Letterkenny University Hospital’s emergency medicine consultant Dr Aine Keating told the Donegal News: “In the emergency department [of Letterkenny University Hospital], we have seen a range of e-scooter-related injuries, including head and facial injuries as well as fractures and other limb injuries.
“Some of these injuries have the potential to be very serious and life-changing.”
She added: “However, legislation needs to be supported by effective enforcement.”