Mr Peter O'Gorman has covered only 2,000 miles in his car since it was last serviced in August 1999. This is because the 50-year-old owner and manager of O'Gorman's Cafe in Ranelagh has been driving around Dublin on scooters since last year.

"When I left home at 8 a.m. to get to work in the car, it would take me at least an hour. With the scooter I fly through the traffic and I'm there in 10 minutes," he says. He lives four miles away from Ranelagh.

"Anytime I need to get supplies or other things for the restaurant I can just pop on the scooter and get where I need to go much more quickly," he says. His bike, he adds, has great luggage capacity and can be parked at cycle stands, on the pavement or on pavement islands.

"I think for any business person, a scooter makes a lot of sense."

Mr O'Gorman's initial foray into the world of scooters began with the purchase last year of a Yamaha 125cc model, which he traded in earlier this year for a Suzuki Burgman 400cc because he wanted a bike he could take abroad on a future touring holiday.

Although Mr O'Gorman drove a motorcycle between the ages of 17 and 19, he says previous experience is not necessary, as scooters are easy to drive. He says that, with careful driving, safety need not be an overriding issue and that so far he has never come close to having an accident.

"I think that some of the young people on the single-speed 50cc mopeds are by far the worst offenders when it comes to road safety," he says. Exposure to wet weather is rarely a problem for Mr O'Gorman, who wears only a protective coat (with protective padding) and helmet when on the bike.

"The scooter has a full windscreen, and when travelling into the rain, you don't get wet. The scooter is designed to protect you from the rain."