New fears as e-bike bursts into flames in Wexford

A well maintained and privately owned e-bike in the Wexford area malfunctioned and went up in flames on Tuesday.

Tiernan Doyle from Barntown, who was on the bike at the time, noticed smoke coming from the bike.

Mr. Doyle luckily got away without being injured.

Sinn Fein Councillor Tom Forde took to Facebook to warn of the dangers:

“If you notice any smoke or a serious malfunction, move away from the e-vehicle and in cases like this ring the Fire Service. This person was very lucky and had the good sense to keep away. Events like this might not happen every day, but they are very serious and deserve attention. Talk you your kids/younger users about this”

This has sparked concerns as the new e-scooter initiative has been launched in Wexford.

Wexford is the first local authority in the country to roll out the e-scooter pilot scheme.

The new scheme has been met with trepidation by many including Councillor Forde, who said that there are too many issues with them and there are no regulations in place:

“We will just have to see how it goes but I wouldn’t be a fan of them myself.”

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, James Lawless has assured the people of Wexford that there are enough restrictions in place and that the Gardai will be enforcing the laws surrounding E-Scooters:

“So there’s a full set of rules around them for the first time in law and that can be supported by Garda enforcement. So you have to be 16 or over, you can’t carry a passenger, you can’t
exceed 20 kilometres per hour, you can’t carry goods on the back of it. So there’s a whole lot of new rules there. Another rule is that you don’t mount the curb. And the situation I think the people are afraid of, and I’ve seen it myself, is somebody maybe a pedestrian coming up to a scooter coming upon them at speed, coming on a dark corner, those kind of things should not be happening. It’s no different to a bike, it’s no different to a small car. And the Gardai are there to enforce the law.”

He went on to point out the positives of the scheme:

“The flip side of that is that these can be an affordable clean green machine. And that gives young people more mobility around town. So it has to be done right. But if it’s done right with the right rules, which we think are there now, there’s a great opportunity.”