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GARDAÍ IN DUBLIN were training and testing out a new piece of kit to measure the maximum speed of e-scooters in the city centre today.
Regulations allowing the use of e-scooters in public places came into effect last year and restricted the vehicles to a maximum speed of 20km per hour. They must also meet particular lighting and braking requirements.
New devices, used to measure the maximum speed of the e-scooter, have been acquired by gardaí and members of the roads policing unit have started training on the machines this week.
It is understood that the force currently owns four e-scooter speed testers, one of which was used on Dame St today in Dublin city centre for training purposes. Gardaí also wanted to introduce the devices to the public.
A spokesperson for gardaí told The Journal that a number of e-scooters were seized today for failing to comply with technical requirements in the new regulations.
They added that the force is currently undertaking a “proof of concept for the introduction of mobile dynamometers” to enforce the new regulations on e-scooters.
The new laws, introduced last year, banned the use of the scooters by those under the age of 16 and banned them from having fixed seats on board. It also banned the practice of two people riding on one scooter.
Although an increasingly common mode of transport, the use of e-scooters was technically illegal until last year. This legal anomaly meant the world’s biggest scooter-sharing firm, Lime, was prevented from launching in Ireland, The Journal revealed.
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