Warning over dangers of scramblers as toddler among two injured on Cork's northside

Parents urged not to buy scramblers for their children, especially as Christmas gifts. Pic: iStock

Scrambler warnings have been issued after two people, including a toddler, were struck by the motorbikes being driven recklessly on Cork’s northside.

In one incident, a woman, 20, was knocked down and seriously injured by a scrambler bike, and in a separate incident, a two-year-old infant, who was struck by another scrambler, required hospital treatment.

The cases came to light during this month’s meeting of Cork City Council where Worker’s Party Cllr Ted Tynan and FF Cllr Tony Fitzgerald raised concerns and urged parents not to buy scramblers for their children, especially as Christmas gifts.

Mr Tynan said: “This is a problem in many places across the city but it is a scourge in the greater Mayfield and The Glen areas.” He also told the meeting how about 10 days ago, a teenager was seen driving a scrambler at speed down Silverheights Road at around 3pm, and then zig-zagging through heavy traffic before speeding off through a quiet housing estate.

He came out of nowhere. It’s crazy carry-on. It’s a fatality or a serious injury waiting to happen,” he said.

And he said young people are driving scramblers at speed through a playground in the Glenamoy Lawn area of Mayfield, forcing parents and childminders to grab their children to safety.

“I would have concerns too for the drivers, who often have young people as pillion passengers. These are lethal machines and we need to get to grips with it,” he said.

He welcomed the establishment by gardaí of new lines of direct communication on the scrambler bike issue with affected communities, and confirmation from senior gardaí that they will seize such bikes, if necessary.

But Mr Fitzgerald said he has heard from some community gardaí that even when the motorbikes are seized from young people, it is the parents who arrive at the station, often within an hour, to reclaim the confiscated machines.

There are some parents who think it’s a positive thing for their children to have these machines, and that it’s a positive activity, but this minority do not see the consequences,” he said.

He spoke of the noise pollution they cause and of the damage being caused to local parks and pitches. 

"The message that needs to go out to some parents is that these bikes should not be bought, especially for Christmas," he said.

Mr Tynan tabled a motion for the meeting urging the council to liaise with gardaí to recognise the huge dangers posed by scrambler motorbikes.

Officials told him that the council will continue to work with gardaí and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to improve education and enforcement in this area. They also said they will consider the further rollout of the RSA's "Wrecked Lives" programme to at risk groups. The programme uses real-life stories to tell the consequences of the road traffic collisions and other life-changing events that happen on our roads.

It is targeted at young people who are a major risk group on Irish roads and are three times more likely to be killed in a collision than the rest of the population.