Anyone here ride electric scooters?
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Posted Feb 7, 2019, 3:51 PM UTC
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they seem to be in a legal gray area though.
Not "grey", they're illegal to use on roads without insurance and registration... and the motor office can't register them, so they're not legal. You could use them on private land, but that's it.
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As you need to move it before the motor turns on...
That's just false. The RSA and many press releases have clarified this. It does not require you pushing to keep it going; it won't slow to a stop if you do not push it.
They haven't started confiscating them because they haven't acted on it yet. Same way there are still scramblers/4x4's and hemp plants that contain detectable THC - except they've started to act on that last one.
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this goes to court: scooter owner wins
Because something that is defined as a mechanically propelled vehicle won't be viewed as such by the court? What's your legal reasoning here?
By definition: these scooters have a motor, which can propel the scooter.
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If you stop pushing and the “vehicle” stops from non assisted inertia it’s not a mpv. If it keeps going on it’s own propulsion after the first few pushes it is a mpv and illegal. And they have started confiscating them.
That’s like saying that if you have to push start a car it’s suddenly not a mpv.
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I use one every day for work. They are great fun, but very dangerous if not taken seriously. So far I have not been stopped by the guards but I take a risk every day. I have nearly paid for it on the savings I have made from the bus. I hope the RSA see sense and legalise them. I would be happy to pay tax but I fear the insurance would be outlandish.
EDIT: I answer the question and get downvoted :)
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Thanks for the reply.
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Just last week the RSA updated the pdf that people had been using to imply they are legal to specifically say that if the thing can without being scooted its a mechanically propelled vehicle.
It was the document sellers and blogs were linking to when claiming they are legal.
Link
Link to an week old article of someone using the old version of the pdf to get the Gards to believe they are legal. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/e-scooter-owner-wins-fine-row-but-officials-insist-they-are-illegal-v0nbkb96f
It's interesting, I phoned up the Garda traffic corps hq in dublin castle and asked them straight-up if I was committing an offense by riding one around on cycle lanes. The man on the phone said he doesn't know. Until the DPP passes a ruling on these things the Guards don't have an official policy on what to do with them.