‘E-scooters and scramblers were a nuisance but are now a public safety crisis’

In an 18 month period 77 children under the age of 16 were treated at a Belfast hospital for e-scooter injuries

An MP is calling for urgent action on the illegal use of scramblers, e-bikes, and e-scooters stating what was once a nuisance has now escalated into a public safety crisis.

Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard has written to Justice Minister Naomi Long demanding urgent action on the illegal and anti-social use of such vehicles.

He was responding to the recent Children’s Health Ireland report which revealed that there have been 1,130 emergency department attendances linked to e-scooter injuries between January 2021 and August 2025, alongside a 50% rise in children admitted with traumatic brain injuries in the last year alone.

Locally, 77 children under the age of 16 were treated at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children over an 18-month period between June 2024 and January 2026. As well as this, 59 serious ambulance call-outs were recorded in relation to such injuries over two years.

The South Down MP said: “What started as a simple nuisance is now a critical public safety crisis, and it needs to be treated like one.

“I’m hearing it directly from people right across South Down – parents who won’t let their kids play outside, older residents afraid to walk their own streets, and communities feeling terrorised in their own neighbourhoods. That is completely unacceptable.

“We have laws that simply aren’t being enforced, and that enforcement gap has allowed the situation to spiral out of control. These high-powered machines are being driven recklessly through housing estates and public parks.

“In the worst cases, they are being used by gangs to intimidate residents, distribute drugs, and openly evade the police. Working-class communities, in particular, have borne the brunt of this.

“I have written to the Justice Minister demanding a dedicated joint taskforce between the Department of Justice, the PSNI, and local Policing and Community Safety Partnerships (PCSPs). Furthermore, I am calling for police officers to be given clear legal authority, specialised training, and modern technology – including drone support – to safely seize these vehicles and take them off our streets.

“Communities deserve to feel safe where they live, and no one should have to think twice before stepping onto a footpath.”

Under the current law, e-scooters and most other small off-road motorised vehicles should never be used on public land anywhere in Northern Ireland. This means they cannot legally be used on public roads, in public parks or on pavements.

It is legal to own, buy, or sell an e-scooter however, they can only be used on private land and only if the landowner gives their permission.

Other lightweight vehicles such as scrambler bikes and quad bikes are also restricted to off-road use on privately-owned land.

Police can issue cautions, fines, report users to the PPS, and confiscate e-scooters being used in public places.

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