Calls for ban on rickshaws in Dublin following death of young mother

Councillors have called for a ban on rickshaws following the death of a young mother in an incident in Dublin city centre.Danielle O’Keane (37) from Saval, Newry, Co Down, was seriously injured when she was struck by a car after falling from the rickshaw in which she was travelling on Saturday, September 26th. The mother of two was returning from a Westlife concert in the 3Arena with friends when the incident happened on North Wall Quay.Her sister-in-law Aisling O’Keane told Newstalk last week that doctors said she had suffered a “life-ending brain injury”.She was brought by ambulance to the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital for treatment but died five days later.READ MORE“Danielle doesn’t go out, so this was a rare occasion for her to try to go out and let her hair down”, he sister in-law said, adding that Danielle and her friends wore matching Westlife T-shirts to the concert.Danielle’s children are aged two and five.Fine Gael councillor Danny Byrne told both Newstalk Breakfast and RTÉ radio’s Today show with David McCullagh that the regulation of rickshaws was necessary to prevent further deaths. “Anyone getting on a rickshaw around Dublin would have a legitimate expectation that that would be a safe mode of transport. I do not believe it’s a safe mode of transport,” he said.“There’s legislation sitting there for almost 10 years that was supposed to regulate rickshaws, and it hasn’t been commenced. So, I’m calling on the Government to immediately commence that legislation.” All motorised rickshaws need to be licensed and insured like cars and motorbikes, he added.When asked whether these extra costs could put some rickshaw drivers out of business, Byrne said he did not care. “To be honest, their costs are not my concern. My concerns are the safety of the citizens of Dublin,” he said.Byrne said he was not a fan of rickshaws or other “dangerous modes of transport” such as e-scooters.“I just don’t think they’re safe, they’re also probably being used for other reasons rather than carrying passengers.” Concerns about rickshaws have existed for years, but the Government had failed to resolve the regulatory situation. Any mode of transport that was motorised should be properly licensed, insured and regulated, he said.“At the moment it’s a wild-west situation. Anybody can go out there and grab a rickshaw and off they go. I’m just not sure of the value of them.”Michael Crowe, Fianna Fáil councillor on Galway City Council, pointed out that there have been no rickshaws on the streets of Galway since 2013, when the introduction of bylaws ended that mode of transport there. Rickshaws had been crossing pedestrianised areas at speed, so it was “very foreseeable that some form of accident was going to take place”, Crowe said.Gardaí are appealing to anyone who witnessed the collision to come forward.Garda technical specialists examined the scene.No other injuries were reported, gardaí said.Road users who may have camera footage, including dashcam, and were travelling in the vicinity of North Wall Quay on Saturday, September 26th, between 10:30pm and 11:15pm, are asked to make this available to investigating gardaí.Anyone with information is asked to contact Store Street Garda station on 01 666 8000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.