Electric bikes and e-scooters will be exempt from registration, tax or insurance coverage in the event that they not in a position to journey at speeds above 25km/h, the Government has confirmed.
The long-awaited Road Traffic and Roads Bill will legislate for e-bikes and e-scooters, which have develop into more and more standard lately.
E-bikes that conform with EU laws that don’t permit for pedal-assisted biking above 25km/h will be handled the identical as regular pedal cycles.
E-bikes are at present topic to the EU directive 2002/24/EC that permits the bike’s motor to help a bike owner up to 25km/h. A bike owner can go sooner than that, however they won’t be assisted by the motor.
However, the small however rising quantity of e-bikes that permit for pedal help over 25km/h would require registration, insurance coverage and tax below the laws that has but to make its means to the Oireachtas. Only these with a driver’s licence will be allowed to cycle them.
The Minister of State on the Department of Transport Hildegarde Naughton mentioned the registration of the extra highly effective e-bikes is important as a result of of the potential dangers these bicycles symbolize to pedestrians.
They can even not be allowed to be use pedestrianised zones or cycle lanes.
In a response to two parliamentary questions from Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy, Ms Naughton mentioned her officers had been at present partaking with insurance coverage trade representatives in relation to high-powered e-bikes.
Ms Naughton mentioned e-scooters will now be reclassified as “powered personal transporters ”. Up to now, they might be topic to automobile registration, tax and insurance coverage. However, this technicality has not been enforced.
Technical and security requirements will be set down for them, she mentioned.
“Only vehicles which are type approved can be registered and accordingly it is not intended that powered personal transporters will require registration,” she mentioned.
“The programme for government committed us to legislating for e-scooters and e-bikes and accordingly the Road Traffic and Roads Bill, which recently completed committee stage, will clarify the legal position of these vehicles in the Road Traffic Acts.”
In her Dáil reply, the Minister of State mentioned: “My officials will consider potential mechanisms with a view to facilitating the enforcement of road traffic law for e-scooters in the regulations for their use, which will be subsequent to the Bill.”
“The upcoming change of status for this type of vehicle was notified to the Office of the Revenue Commissioners earlier this year and my officials have been working closely with that office to facilitate the change,” she advised the Social Democrats TD.