Think the answer to both is some nuance rather than abroad statement….
again - no new legislation required re the second point. legally, the big powerful e-bikes are already classed as mopeds, which means helmets are mandatory for them anyway.
Does this mean I'd have to wear high vis on my decathlon pedal assist bike? not that I ever would anyway
So hi-viz will be mandatory in eBikes but not on motorbikes? Top quality legislating as ever guys.
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-style/people/2026/02/02/isnt-it-time-we-joined-the-danes-and-got-on-our-bikes/
That's worth a read.
And making helmets mandatory on e-bikes that are slower than regular bikes is completely illogical too. On my legal e-bike the combination of the extra weight and the 25 km/h limiter means that my top speeds are significantly lower than when on my regular bike. The ability to keep up higher average speeds over longer distances makes the e-bike worthwhile but it makes no sense to oblige me to wear a helmet on a bike I struggle to get to 35km/h on a downhill but not on a bike I can easily get to 50 km/h. (Although I choose to wear a helmet on both.)
but are they saying helmets will be required on your kind of e-bike (i've the same kind) or just the already illegal ones or what? no f*cking way am i wearing a helmet on mine anyway.
That kind of e-bike, the one that is legally a bicycle, is the only type that doesn't already require a helmet so that suggests that is what they are trying to do. Hearing through the campaign group grapevine this evening that they're actually looking to apply these rules to regular bikes too and that it is all happening very quickly. If this is something you care about, and I think it's definitely something you should, then it's time to ring the constituency offices of all your local TD's and make your objections clear. I'll certainly be doing that.
so they're doing all this because little scumbags fly around on scramblers and stolen motorbikes? where's the logic ffs?
Because many folks proposing and delivering new legislation are motorists who are conditioned - implicitly or otherwise - to see a reduction in the cycling population as a good thing.
irishcycle.com claims that the draft plan regarding mandatory helmets does not distinguish between e-bikes and bicycles.
https://irishcycle.com/2026/02/04/all-bicycles-included-in-draft-plan-for-mandatory-helmets-and-high-vis-department-confirms/
Pretty sure Hi Vis was mandatory at night on rural roads, on a bike, in France. Or it was when I was there many moons ago.
Insanity, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do it given the country's hatred for cyclists, we're still quite the minority and most would probably love for it to be more hassle for us to cycle. I'm not putting a helmet on to cycle to lidl that's about 500 meters away ffs.
At night, or during the day when visibility is poor but in rural areas only. Not a requirement in urban areas with street lighting.
It's the classic Maggie Thatcher inspired divide and conquer strategy. Instead of motorists and cyclists alike calling for better resources from the government they get us to blame and fight with each other. While we're distracted and arguing about the little things they legislate for what they want
nope, hanlon's razor.
it's incompetence, not malice. it's politicians desperately seeking to be doing something, applying newstalk host levels of common sense to 'fixing' the cyclist problem. to suggest it's part of a grander plan is kinda funny.
Tend to agree, and "fixing" the cycling problem means finding simple ways to reduce the numbers, in this case.
Who needs logic when you've a culture war to win and votes to buy?
Just look at the state of half the country the last couple of weeks with heavier than average rainfall. And the kneejerk reactions, hollow promises and finger pointing. Where nothing was done for the last 25 years when this has been a growing issue. And nothing will be done when the rain stops in a week or two, Paddy's day rolls around, lambs are jumping in the fields and something else gets the headlines.
We get who we f***ing vote for unfortunately. "Oh, look, climate change on the horizon… lets do nothing, ostracize those trying to raise the issue, vote out the only party attempting to care and turn the whole circus into a culture war issue".
My sympathy is in very short supply these days.
a girl gets killed by an (already illegal) scrambler and the end result is pedal cyclists forced to wear hi-viz vests. WTF is going on in this country!
Drivers keep killing pedestrians and thereby reducing the demand for hi-viz from the RSA's supplier, so they have to do something to keep profits up!
Motorbikes are as well lit up as any car, and on most the headlights cannot be turned off.
It's like they want a situation where everybody on the road (not in a vehicle) to wear hi-viz when all they really need to do is enforce the current law of having front and rear lights
But then enforcing the existing laws doesn't create an us v us situation
…and what? Sure, I always have lights on my bike!
I imagine it helps when you can take your bike on the metro and the city buses.
Also helps when the cycling infrastructure is well planned
Oh, wait, you mean by… LIGHTS?? That's a genius idea. We should bring in a law that makes them mandatory…
A half decent bike light - €40/ €50 range? - can be seen well over a km away. The amount of times I've presumed the light ahead was a motorbike only to see a cyclist breeze past… Worth their weight in gold. And if they're not the cheap Chinese ones they won't blind oncoming traffic either.
If the Govt. was in ANY way serious in caring about the safety of cyclists they'd introduce regs akin to the German ones and inform the public of their importance. Could scrap the fortune spent on builders vests and even have a subsidised new lights scheme.
actually, excessively bright bike lights can be annoying. not that they're common, but they can be brighter than a dipped headlight.
Yeah, they're one of the reasons why I'd welcome a German style set of laws here. The options and price ranges for lights are crazy, and plenty of people will reference gazillions of lumens for some €30 set of Chinese lights (possibly perfect for MTBing) which can be curse for other road users.
I had someone complaining about my German law/StVZO-compliant front light on a cycleway a few weeks ago. It's honestly not all that bright, and it's not pointed upwards, and it has the shaped beam that cuts off the top of the cone of light.
All my front lights with a focused beam are StVZO compliant. Seems a good system to me.
