Grace’s Law: Minister confirms scrambler bikes to be banned on public roads

Meanwhile, transport minister Darragh O'Brien said he was 'taken aback' by a judge’s decision to ban a garda from driving following a pursuit with a scrambler bike

Darragh O’Brien paid tribute to Grace Lynch and her family, as he vowed that there will be a crackdown on the bikes. File picture

Scrambler bikes will be banned on public roads and in public places from Friday, transport minister Darragh O'Brien has confirmed as he brought plans before Cabinet on Wednesday.

A regulation in the Road Traffic Act 2023 was never signed into law, meaning that ministers were never given the power to ban them in specified places.

The Government has confirmed the regulation would be enacted and named Grace’s Law, after Grace Lynch, a teenager who died after a crash involving a scrambler bike in Dublin on January 25.

Mr O’Brien paid tribute to Ms Lynch and her family, as he vowed that there will be a crackdown on the bikes.

“I'm thinking in particular of Grace's mom and dad and indeed, Grace and her family," he said.

“I want to thank them sincerely for their engagement directly with me for the dignified way in which they've been managing this awful, awful tragedy.

“I know nothing that we do is going to bring Grace back, but I hope that this is some small consolation, and that knowing that these additional changes that are on top of what was brought forward in 2023 are done in her name.”

Garda driving ban

Meanwhile, Mr O’Brien said he was “taken aback” by a judge’s decision to ban a garda from driving following a pursuit with a scrambler bike.

The Fianna Fáil TD said he has already started engaging with justice minister Jim O’Callaghan and that the Government will ensure that gardaí can carry out their duties “without fear or favour”.

Earlier this week, Garda Sean Shields was disqualified from driving for two years and fined €500 for dangerous driving while chasing scrambler bikes in Dublin.

Speaking at the AGSI conference in Mayo, Garda commissioner Justin Kelly said laws are needed to protect gardaí from prosecutions when in the line of duty.

Speaking on his way into Cabinet, Mr O’Brien said the matter would be examined by Government.

“I don't want to reach into decisions of the judiciary, but I will say as a citizen, I was taken aback by that judgment,” he said

“It was on the basis of a complaint that was made to Fiosrú. I have met with Jim O’Callaghan, had a discussion with him [on Tuesday].

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“We will deal with this co-operation, which will mean co-operation from justice, which we'll get. I've also noted the Gardaí statement in that regard.

“Our guards need to be able to carry out their duties without fear or favour. They're well trained. They know how to pursue criminals. They need to be able to do that.

“Obviously, judges have discretion in relation to making their judgments, and that's something that I respect. But we will deal with this, and we've got to ensure that the guards have every support in carrying out the work that they do.”

Mr Kelly said this week that gardaí and emergency service workers must feel protected and should operate under different thresholds to civilians while at work.

He said: “It certainly does not appear to me to be right that the same threshold is applied to a member of the Garda Síochána who goes through a red light with blue lights and sirens on, is responding to a call for service, a really serious call for service, and he’s involved in a collision, and that is treated the exact same way as if you and I, off duty, crashed through a red light because of bad driving.”

• Louise Burne, Political Correspondent