Loophole means illegal city rickshaws can’t be seized

Date Published: 21-Jan-2013

By Dara Bradley

A loophole in the city’s bye-laws regulating rickshaws is being exploited by some drivers who persistently breach the regulations and continue to operate.

The Connacht Sentinel understands that there are several ‘repeat offender’ rickshaw drivers who continuously breach the bye-laws regulating non-motorised passenger transporters.

The rickshaws cannot be confiscated by Galway Gardaí or Galway City Council’s community wardens because that stipulation wasn’t written into the regulation that was introduced two years ago.

Gardaí have complained that the bye-laws as currently worded prohibit them from confiscating the rickshaws.

This means that rickshaws that aren’t even licensed and are operating completely illegally and contrary to the bye-laws, cannot be confiscated.

It also means that drivers of rickshaws that are licensed properly and whose rickshaws are legally on the road but whose drivers repeatedly breach the bye-laws (for example, by not having lights on the rickshaws, or no insurance) cannot have their vehicles confiscated.

“It is a loophole in the bye-laws that were brought in in 2010,” said independent City Councillor Donal Lyons.

Cllr Lyons, a member of the Galway City Joint Policing Committee (JPC), said there is a need, at a minimum to close the loophole, and he said there is a view that perhaps they should be banned altogether.

“The loophole must be closed off. Rickshaws could be unlicensed but the Gardaí are not allowed to confiscate them because of this loophole in the wording of the bye-law. What is happening is there are repeat offenders. They might be stopped by a Garda or community warden and fined or summonsed but because the rickshaws cannot be confiscated the drivers can just keep operating. We need to amend the bye-laws to try to close this loophole and stop repeat offenders,” he said.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel