Peter Burke
Question:293. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Transport if he will provide an update on the regulation of e-scooters in the community. [17161/23]
View answerTuesday, 18 April 2023
Questions (293)
Written answers
Under current road traffic legislation, e-scooters are classed as mechanically propelled vehicles, the use of which requires tax, insurance and a driving licence. Since they do not fit into any existing licence category, it is not possible to tax or insure them and they may not be used on public roads or in public places. They may be used on private land with the landowner's permission.
The Programme for Government is committed to legislating for e-scooters. The Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021, which is before the Oireachtas, defines a new category of vehicle in the Road Traffic Act 1961, powered personal transporters or PPTs, which will include e-scooters. Establishing this new vehicle category will enable technical and other regulations to be put in place for the safe and legal use of e-scooters.
It is anticipated that the Bill will be enacted in quarter two of this year. In advance of the relevant sections being commenced, work has already begun on drafting regulations to set out technical standards and rules for the safe use of e-scooters. In addition, officials in my department have recently established a working group, which is meeting regularly to ensure all key agencies are working together in preparation for the coming into effect of these regulations.
The introduction of new technical regulations is subject to mandatory examination by the European Commission, for a minimum of 12 weeks under the Single Market Transparency Directive (EU) 2015/1535. It is anticipated that draft e-scooter regulations will be submitted to this process on enactment of the Bill and that they will be introduced on completion of that scrutiny.