E-bike rider was doing 40-plus on Laois footpath
An example of the Surron Light Bee e-bike that Darren Whelan had been driving on the day
A MAN who was reported to gardaí of riding a scrambler motorbike at more than 40kph on a footpath in Portlaoise was charged with having no insurance or driving licence at last week’s sitting of the local district court.
Sergeant JJ Kirby told the court that on 11 October at about 4.30pm, “gardaí got a tip-off about a man riding a scrambler bike on the footpath along the Dunlin Road in Portlaoise at 40kph-plus. Gardaí stopped him and the bike was seized”.
Darren Whelan, 7 Broomville Court, Portlaoise pleaded guilty to the offences.
His solicitor Josephine Fitzpatrick said that while the bike might appear to have looked like a scrambling motorbike, it was, in fact, an e-bike.
She said that Mr Whelan had bought the e-bike for €2,000 just two months previous to being stopped from a reputable shop. She said that her 29-year-old client did not know at the time that he needed insurance to ride it.
“It looks like a scrambler,” said Ms Fitzpatrick, when she handed in a photograph of it to Judge John Brennan, “but it is a Surron Light Bee e-Bike. It’s electrically propelled.” Sgt Kirby said that under Section 3 of the , the class of vehicle that Mr Whelan was riding is classed as a mechanically propelled vehicle.
Ms Fitzpatrick said that her client was riding his e-bike in a bike lane when he was stopped by gardaí.
She said: “Mr Whelan lives locally and had gone down the town for his mother to pick up some messages. He accepts that he should have had insurance and a driving licence, now that the law has been explained to him. He’s asking that he is not disqualified from driving.” Judge Brennan noted: “It was 4.30pm in the afternoon along the Dublin Road and he was doing over 40 on a footpath. The law had changed for these types of vehicles and they do require insurance.” He said he was not going to impose a driving disqualification, but convicted Mr Whelan of having no insurance and fined him €600. The defendant was also fined €100 for driving without a driving licence and recognisances were fixed in the event of an appeal.
