It’s now illegal to use e-scooters on public roads without wearing high-vis and a helmet. But what does that actually mean?

You must now wear a high-vis vest and a bicycle helmet on an e-scooter (see details below). But in a very Irish way of doing things, it’s not yet a finable offence, so if you’re stopped, you should only get a warning at most for now. Be warned: This is expected to change within weeks.

The helmet requirement came after it was reported that e-scooter incidents were the leading cause of traumatic brain injury for children and that 43% of paediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds in Ireland were taken up by people who crashed on e-scooters. Paediatric ICU beds in Ireland are for under-16s, who are already banned from using e-scooters of any type.

Mandatory high-vis and helmets, but no fines yet

Despite widespread misreporting, fines for not wearing high-vis and helmets, and increases in other fines to €100, are not yet in place as of September 4th, 2026. The fines, however, are planned to be in place “in the coming weeks” — which effectively means that the time between now and then is the bedding-in period.

In a press release on Wednesday, September 2nd, the Department of Transport said: “Charges for Fixed Charge Notices will be increased to €100 for e-scooter offences. Regulations for this change will be brought forward in the coming weeks. A Fixed Charge Notice offence for not wearing a helmet or high-visibility clothing while using an e-scooter will be introduced at [the] same time at the new rate of €100.” Other offences remain with a €50 fine until the increase.

Other changes, also not yet

A ban on people aged 16 to 18 using e-scooters is also not in place yet, but is expected soon after the Minister for Transport told RTE that the EU gave Ireland the green light for the move.

Separately, all e-scooters must also follow the device-related regulations set in 2024 (see link at end of article). For those that do not, the Department said fees for storing seized e-scooters will double, rising to €80 for the first day of storage and €30 for each additional day. This will take effect from 2nd October.

Helmet requirements details

In the new regulations, which came into force yesterday, a helmet is defined basically as a bicycle helmet which follows the European standard EN 1078:2012+A1:2012. It must have a CE mark to show it complies with EU health, safety, and environmental protection standards.

The law now states a person “shall not” (which means must not) use an electric scooter “unless he or she is wearing…” a helmet of the above standard and it must be “securely fastened to his or her head”.

High-vis requirements details

The high-vis requirement is also to have a CE mark and to follow European Standard EN ISO 20471:2013+A1:2016

For high-vis, the requirement is “high visibility clothing which covers at least the front and back of the person’s torso” — this basically means a high-vis vest is a must, and anything of the same or equivalent, such as a high-vis T-shirt, jumper, or jacket, also meets the requirement.

For vests or other clothing to meet the standard, items must be fluorescent yellow, orange, or red and have retroreflective tape or strips.

High-vis arm coverings or trousers are not required, but harnesses such as hi-vis versions of Sam Browne belts do not meet the requirements.

IMAGE: The high-vis should have a label with this logo.

Rushed with warnings

The above is not legal advice, but it is being provided as these regulations have been rushed, and very little information so far has been provided by the Department of Transport or other usual sources like the Citizens Information service. The RSA has the clearest information, but it’s buried on its e-scooter page and, even there, in bullet points and not noted as new rules.

When IrishCycle.com asked for a copy of the regulations on Wednesday ahead of the rule change being enacted on Friday, the Department basically said it would be published when it’s published.

As of Saturday, the regulations are still not on the homepage of the irishstatutebook.ie, the online version of the written law book. It took looking up the regulations on the State’s official legal journal to find the name and then a PDF copy of the regulations.

The new rules are in the Road Traffic (Electric Scooters) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. No. 455 of 2026), which amends what are called the ‘principal regulations’ for e-scooters, Road Traffic (Electric Scooters) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 199/2024).

The regulations, or “statutory instruments”, are written laws signed by a Government Minister or junior minister rather than passed by parliament.

Other road users

Helmets — of a high standard type — are already required for moped and motorcycle users. Besides that, there is no helmet requirement for other road users.

The only other road users required to wear high-vis are learner and novice motorcyclists. Fully licensed motorcyclists, as well as pedestrians and cyclists, are not required to wear high-vis, and unlike in other countries, motorists are not required to store high-vis in their vehicles for situations like a breakdown on a motorway.

ALSO SEE: Explainer: Differences between e-scooters, bicycles, e-bicycles and speed e-bikes (updated)

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