E-scooters have dominated the news recently, with news that the Government is considering a ban as a growing number of children require hospitalisation from injuries.

But the method of transport is not unique to Ireland prompting the question of how other countries manage e-scooters?

On The Pat Kenny Show, examples from European neighbours were heard, with reports from France and across Scandinavia.

Elaine Cobb, a Paris-based journalist, said that e-scooters are permitted, despite Paris banning rental scooters.

However, strict regulations were applied after the city introduced the ban, with age, speed, and equipment requirements among others.

The ban led to “a huge uptick” in cycling, with companies previously offering rental e-scooters replacing them with bicycles.

Ms. Cobb noted that insurance is compulsory for ownership, which supposedly disincentivises recklessness; “if you had to buy one, pay for the insurance, work out where you can park and charge it, the chances are you're more responsible.”

However, laws varied regionally. In Paris and Lyon, a speed limit of 25km/h was set while Bordeaux, in the south-west, set a 10km/h limit.

“Once I get downtown, they're absolutely everywhere”: e-scooters in Scandinavia

Also on The Pat Kenny Show was Phillip O’Connor, a freelance journalist living in Stockholm and an e-scooter user, said that the scooters appeared in Scandinavia about 10 years ago and that issues with parking and accidents “immediately became apparent”

He noted that a 20km/h speed limit was in force “pretty much across the board,” and that helmets were required for children under 15 in Sweden and Norway and are mandatory in Denmark.

Mr. O’Connor said that bells, lights, and reflects were compulsory equipment to warn pedestrians, and that the Scandinavian cycle network ensure user’s safety. Despite this, the number of people injured rose by 38% in 2025 and 7 people died.

Insurance for all users is not a requirement across the Scandinavian countries, and that individual e-scooter specifications determine if insurance is needed.

Stockholm has implemented a limit on the number of e-scooters, according to Mr. O’Connor, and only 12000 are allowed at any time in the city of 1 million people.