Debate contribution: Antisocial Scrambler and e-Scooter Use

Debate contribution by Mr Peter McReynolds on 21 April 2026.

MLA: Mr Peter McReynolds
Party at the time: Alliance Party
Date: 21 April 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Opposition Business
Heading: Antisocial Scrambler and e-Scooter Use
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5497895

Text

As a member of the Infrastructure Committee and the Northern Ireland Policing Board, I welcome the opportunity to speak on such an important and current topic, and I am grateful to the SDLP for tabling the motion. Antisocial behaviour involving e-scooters and scramblers is becoming more and more of an issue with each passing day. Today, we will all speak broadly on various scenarios that we have seen in our areas, where many of those vehicles have been used by children and young people.
First, I will address the issue of e-scooters, which the motion mentions. Over the past five years, the PSNI has continued to see a rise in incidents relating to e-scooters. Over 200 injuries have been reported, some of which required the Ambulance Service to be called. We need to be clear that e-scooters are not toys. We have seen the consequences of misuse across the UK and Ireland already, with e-scooters having caused serious injuries to riders and pedestrians and, sometimes, fatalities. Just last year, a fourteen-year-old boy got on the back of a friend's e-scooter on the way home from school. He was not wearing a helmet and was holding on to his friend. They were in a collision that, sadly, cost him his life when his unprotected head hit the ground. That causes me grave concern as a new parent and as someone who recently witnessed children coming out of Strandtown Primary School in east Belfast, just half a mile down the road from here, on an e-scooter: two individuals, without helmets, with one of them giving a lift to his friend. They made their way along a footpath beside the busy crossroads at North Road. Many who use those vehicles are children, and we want to see not the potential criminalisation of children but education and targeted interventions, which pilots have shown to be successful. I turn to scramblers. In 2016, we saw the death of Valerie Armstrong in Colin Glen Forest Park, following a collision caused by a scrambler. Scramblers are not toys; they are heavy, motorised bikes that travel at high speeds. Just this morning, I received a call from a resident of Orangefield Avenue who is interested in today's debate. He was concerned about dangerous scrambler use and recognised on the call that police are doing everything that they can, yet it is still happening, and they are unable to intervene more strongly. Innovative approaches are being applied, and I commend the PSNI and its west Belfast neighbourhood teams, which have worked collaboratively with the local community, youth services and schools to address the growing use of scramblers. That is how we will address the issues. They have shown that education can have a significant impact, with a 29% reduction in incidents involving scramblers in just one year. We now need further clarity on those vehicles. Currently, the Department for Infrastructure lacks e-scooter or scrambler-specific legislation or guidance, which makes enforcing the rules on using such vehicles vague and impractical. It is a serious road safety issue, and I call on the Minister for Infrastructure to look into potential measures to address it. There are many challenges with e-scooters and scramblers, but, as in other countries, there are many opportunities, if we can get it right. E-scooter and scramblers are here, and now we, as legislators, must catch up and approach the issue on the basis of sound evidence and good policy.

572 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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