E-scooter safety concerns have arisen again this week after a man was struck on Main Street Letterkenny.
A local man was walking in town on Wednesday when an e-scooter user collided with him.
The man was left bleeding from his forehead after being struck by the e-scooter rider’s shoulder and bag.
Having undergone major surgery recently, the blow was a shock to the man and he narrowly avoided falling to the ground, only for two strangers who rushed to his aid.
“I would like to thank the two men who steadied me up and prevented me from falling to the ground. One man helped me to the seat while the other man wiped the blood from my forehead. I got an ice pack in Magees to take down swelling,” he said.
The e-scooter rider returned and apologised.
The man has called for more garda foot patrols in Letterkenny.
The incident has raised further questions about the legality of e-scooters on roads and paths in Ireland.
Speaking earlier this week, in the community information appeal, Garda Grainne Doherty said that e-scooters are not yet legal to use on public roads.
The new Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 has created a new vehicle category, powered personal transporters, which includes e-scooters. Until the regulations are in place to classify e-scooters as PPTs, any type of PPT will not be legal to use on public roads. These regulations are likely to be introduced in the last quarter of 2023.
“Compliant e-scooters may then be used on public roads. However, the use of e-scooters on footpaths will still be prohibited,” Gda Doherty said.
A motion was passed by the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District last month calling for bye-laws to regulate the use of e-scooters. Cllr Gerry McMonagle had brought the motion forward after walkers expressed their fears about electric scooter users speeding past them on footpaths.
There were 746 traffic incidents involving e-scooters in the country last year, including 554 collisions.
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