Mary joined the Lord Mayor of Dublin City to support his appeal to adults not to Buy Quad Bikes or Scramblers this Christmas

As chair of the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee Mary is part of the Lord Mayors working group tasked with eliminating the use of illegal scramblers in residential city communities. 

Once again this year the Gardaí have a significant operation planned for Christmas eve and morning. 

However, in the absence of government legislation, the Lord Mayor is  also calling on communities across the city to reject the illegal use of scrambler bikes and quads.

Provisional statistics from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) show that, there were 50 people killed or injured in collisions involving a quadbike or scrambler on a public road in recent years. 24 (48%) were 18 years of age or under.

A radio campaign fronted by Mr Keith Synnott, National Clinical Lead for Trauma Services in the Mater hospital has been broadcast over the past few weeks reminding listeners of the dangers of such vehicles.

As part of the Lord Mayors working group Mary will make a submission to the Interdepartmental Government working group dealing with this issue. 

Mary’s submission urges Government to amend the existing road traffic legislation to give the Gardaí powers to police public parks, canals and other open public spaces for illegal use of scramblers.  Gardaí need to be empowered to confiscate and destroy illegal vehicles which pose a threat to residential communities.  Mary calls on all relevant agencies to work together with adults and young people at risk to assist in tackling the issue.