Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
264. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport if he has engaged with vehicle insurance providers in respect of providing full and third party cover for e-scooter and e-bike users in advance of the Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021 being enacted, which will regularise the use of these vehicles on public roads. [41011/22]
View answerIn 2020, the Programme for Government committed us to legislating for e-bikes and e-scooters. To that end, the Road Traffic and Roads Bill, which is currently before the Oireachtas, includes provisions to allow for regulation of the use of e-scooters and e-bikes.
The Bill will provide for a new category of vehicle to be recognised in the Road Traffic Act 1961, called powered personal transporters or PPTs, which will include e-scooters. Establishing this new category of vehicle will enable my Department to set out appropriate technical and safety standards and rules for the safe use of e-scooters in regulations, without the same need for registration, licensing, insurance and taxation associated with mechanically propelled vehicles like cars, buses and trucks.
The Bill also amends the vehicle categories to distinguish between low-powered and high-powered e-bikes, to provide certainty to the growing cohort of e-bike users in Ireland on the legal status of their vehicles. Low-powered pedal-assist e-bikes, capable of speeds up to 25 km/h, will continue to be treated in the same way as pedal bicycles under law and the relevant rules of the road for bicycles will apply accordingly. This type of e-bike will not require registration, insurance, taxation, or licensing.
Higher-powered e-bikes will be required to be registered, taxed and insured. Users will require a driver’s licence and the relevant rules of the road for mopeds and motorbikes will apply. This change will ensure that e-cyclists who do not wish to be capped at 25 km/h and prefer to opt for a more powerful model will have the necessary legal structures in place to do so, and that risks to vulnerable road users such as pedestrians are managed by removing these faster vehicles from pedestrianised zones and cycle lanes.
My officials are currently engaging with insurance industry representatives in relation to high-powered e-bikes.
