Two individuals have died and 42 extra suffered serious injuries from collisions involving e-scooters since the beginning of 2020.
The figures launched by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) come as work continues on long-awaited laws to regulate e-scooter use amid the rising recognition of the mode of transport in recent times.
The RSA stated the information is provisional and relies on incidents that had been reported to the Gardaí and recorded on its Pulse laptop system.
The info was contained in a response to a parliamentary query from Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy.
Separately, figures offered to The Irish Times by the gardaí present 535 “traffic incidents” involving e-scooters within the first 9 months of 2021; and of those, 136 concerned a collision.
Doctors at three Dublin hospitals — Connolly; the Mater and Cappagh orthopaedic hospital — set out the sorts of injuries suffered by e-scooter customers in two separate research revealed by the Irish Medical Journal final 12 months.
[ Age limit for sale of e-scooters to be scrapped ]
The Connolly hospital research analysed knowledge from 22 sufferers with e-scooter-related injuries who had been recognized between October 2019 and November 2020.
Some 68 per cent of the sufferers suffered bone fractures with 36 per cent requiring surgical procedure; 60 per cent of them weren’t sporting a helmet when the crash occurred.
The documented orthopaedic injuries had been described as “complex” and the docs stated their analysis “may provide support for calls to address the safety concerns surrounding these vehicles, including the enforcement of rules regarding helmets and the introduction of speed limits”.
The Mater and Cappagh hospital research reviewed the information of 15 sufferers who introduced with “significant injuries” between July 2020 and January 2021.
Injuries included extremity fractures and dislocations, chest, facial, and head injuries.
The research famous: “Shockingly, despite the relatively high speeds the majority of the riders were travelling at, only four patients were using a helmet while using their e-scooter (36 per cent).”
It concluded that e-scooter-related incidents can lead to extreme injuries and steps needs to be taken to defend customers. “This may take the form of basic mandatory training and PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] use.”
[ Electric bikes and e-scooters with top speeds of 25km/h to be exempt from regulation ]
Last week The Irish Times reported that beneath Government plans e-scooters and electrical bikes can be exempt from registration, tax or insurance coverage if they don’t seem to be ready to journey at speeds above 25km/h.
The long-awaited Road (*42*) and Roads Bill will legislate for e-bikes and e-scooters.
Minister of State on the Department of Transport Hildegarde Naughton advised the Dáil that e-scooters will now be reclassified as “powered personal transporters “.
Up to now, they would be subject to vehicle registration, tax and insurance. However, this technicality has not been enforced.
Technical and safety standards will be set down for them, she said.
“Only vehicles which are type approved can be registered and accordingly it is not intended that powered personal transporters will require registration,” she stated.