Waterford has started a new safety project called Kickstarting the Community, and it targets e-scooters, e-bikes, scramblers, and bicycles. The launch took place at Treo Port Láirge on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, and it brought local services into the same room for one clear purpose. Cut crashes, and cut life changing injuries.
The Waterford Local Community Safety Partnership received €70,000 from the Department of Justice for the work. The funding comes from the Community Safety Fund, which directs proceeds of crime back into local projects.
A practical workshop, not a lecture
Kickstarting the Community is built around hands-on sessions, so the focus stays on real skills, not slogans. Participants look at how an e-scooter or e-bike works, and they learn what safe use looks like in day to day riding.
That approach matters, since many riders use these machines for short trips, and they often mix with cars, cyclists, and people walking. So small mistakes can turn into big injuries fast.
The workshop format covers the basics first, and then it moves to the habits that prevent crashes. Brake checks. Tyre pressure. Lights and reflectors. Controlled speed in tight areas. Safe charging routines. Riders get a clear picture of what can go wrong, and then they get tools to lower that risk.
Treo Port Láirge also wants the programme to stay practical and respectful, so young riders feel listened to, not judged.
Why Waterford is pushing this now
Local concern around e-scooters and e-bikes has grown, and not just in Waterford. So this project lands at the right time. It speaks to safety, and it speaks to anti-social behaviour linked to fast machines in estates and public spaces.
It is easy to see how problems build. A rider takes a scooter built for speed. Then they ride on poor surfaces. Then they ride at night with weak lights. Then one hard brake ends the trip. That chain is common, and it is avoidable.
Kickstarting the Community tries to break that chain early, so the project puts prevention first, and it uses training as the main tool.
The e-scooter rules in Ireland, in plain language
Ireland made e-scooters legal on public roads from May 20, 2024, but strict rules apply. Riders must be at least 16. The scooter must not exceed a design speed of 20 km/h. It must have lights, reflectors, brakes, and an audible warning device such as a bell.
Riders must stay off footpaths and pedestrianised areas, and they must not carry passengers. They must follow the core road rules that apply to cyclists, and they must obey signals from Gardaí and school wardens.
The rules are clear, but rules alone do not stop a crash. So education fills the gap. Riders need to know what safe speed feels like on a narrow street. They need to know how long it takes to stop on wet ground. They need to know that worn tyres change everything. That is the sort of detail a workshop can show fast.
A useful link for everyday riders
Not everyone in Waterford rides a high powered machine. Many people ride standard e-scooters, and they use them for normal errands. So it helps to connect local safety news with real buying choices and real use. If you want a close look at one popular model and how it fits real riding, read this Gotrax Fusion deep dive review.
That sort of review helps riders match a scooter to their needs. Then the safety workshop helps them ride it well. Put those two together, and you get fewer surprises on the road.
What success looks like
This project will not fix every issue overnight, and no one expects that. Yet small wins stack up. More riders using lights at dusk. More riders checking brakes before a trip. More riders staying off footpaths. More riders slowing down near homes and schools.
So the aim is simple. Make safer riding normal in Waterford, and keep more people out of emergency rooms.