Mick McLoughlin was pushing his 10-month-old daughter Olivia across the North Strand Road in Dublin on Monday afternoon when suddenly he heard the roar of an engine rushing towards him.
He turned just in time to see the front wheel of a scrambler bike seconds away from crashing into them.
“My parental instinct kicked in and I had to run to get her out of the way. But when I pushed the buggy it fell forward so I had to dive in front to stop her from smashing her face. If I hadn’t reacted so fast she would have been dead. I would sacrifice my life for my little girl.”
Mr McLoughlin looked up to see a young man with no helmet pull his hood up over his head before speeding away on his scrambler motorcycle. A group of pedestrians immediately ran onto the road to help Mr McLoughlin and his daughter.
Olivia had hit her head on the tarmac while Mr McLoughlin had blood streaming down his face. “Olivia was screaming, she was in complete shock. She got a really bad fright. That idiot just kept on going with no regard for anything he had caused.”
Mr McLoughlin called gardaí about the incident.
Olivia was brought to Temple Street Hospital by ambulance and Mr McLoughlin went to the Mater Hospital. His injuries included a broken nose and a badly injured knee. Olivia began vomiting when she reached the hospital and was kept in for observation for a few hours.
She was later released and went home, but her parents brought her back when she began vomiting again overnight. She is now back with her parents in their home in the North Strand area.
Speaking to The Irish Times on Tuesday, Mr McLoughlin explained how scrambler bikes have become a regular feature on the roads near his home. “You hear them, you see them and they have no regard for anyone. They’ve no morals or manners. They’re flying around on these things and they’re only young fellas.
‘Should be ashamed’
“These guys have no insurance, no licence and the parents that buy these things for their kids for Christmas should be ashamed of themselves.”
According to gardaí, a scrambler or quad bike must be registered, adequately insured and have a road fund licence when used in public places.
The driver must also hold a valid driving licence and wear a helmet.
Failure to do so is an offence under the Road Traffic Acts and drivers will be prosecuted.
In a parliamentary question submitted on November 8th, TD for Dublin North West Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Justice for an update on quad bikes and scramblers "in view of the public safety and anti-social issues concerned".
Frances Fitzgerald admitted gardaí had struggled to deal with minors and youths using quad bikes and scramblers in public parks due to the “safety risk in pursuing these vehicles”.
“If such pursuits were to take place, there would be a high risk of these ending in collisions at speed, resulting in serious injury or death, so the opportunity to actually bring these vehicles to a stop is rare,” said Ms Fitzgerald.
She said gardaí were working with local authorities to examine “other solutions” such as enhanced fencing and bike gates and would deliver an awareness programme to discourage parents from purchasing such bikes for children at Christmas.
Ms Fitzgerald said she intended to raise the issue with the Road Safety Authority in advance of its Christmas road safety campaign.
