E-mobility has been gaining popularity in recent years, especially thanks to its speed and convenience in larger cities, where traffic jams are a daily reality. This year, it was made even worse by the fact that fuel is extremely expensive, and people are looking for alternatives. One of the most popular means of transport is, in particular, electric scooters. But we have some bad news for their owners, because mandatory insurance for e-scooter riders is coming.
Here you can also find scooters with a top speed of 25 km/h
The problem with the increasing number of scooters
With the growing number of electric scooters on the roads, it was only a matter of time before some form of regulation would be introduced—namely, mandatory insurance. As the zoznam.sk portal reports, problematic were accident and damage events, where in the vast majority of cases electric scooters had not concluded any mandatory compulsory insurance contract, as is the case with cars. Then, handling an accident with an insurer became very problematic. But this will be coming to an end soon.
Riding an electric scooter is already regulated by the Road Traffic Act—when a vehicle has an additional motor, it may travel on the sidewalk only at the speed of pedestrians and must follow the valid road traffic rules. Moreover, only a person older than 15 years may operate such a vehicle.
The zoznam.sk portal also specified the speed limit for electric scooters, above which a driving licence is required:
“If the approval authority classifies the scooter into category L, e.g. L1 with a maximum design speed higher than 25 km, then its rider would already have to hold a driving licence AM,“ said Denisa Bárdyová from the Police Presidium.
Because of this regulation, which several EU states have, many electric scooters have their maximum speed limited even though their power can reach much higher speeds. These scooters usually have a label stuck on the side platform saying they meet the standard. However, there is a way to unlock higher speed—because the electric scooter still has a speed mode up to 25 km/h, so it meets the regulation.
Who is at fault in an accident with a scooter?
The number of scooter accidents involving pedestrians or cars is still increasing, and many people still don’t know who is responsible for damages in such an event. The opoisteni.sk portal reports that in the event of an electric scooter accident with a pedestrian on the sidewalk—where the driver is at fault—the scooter user is fully liable for the damages. The same applies in the event of an electric scooter accident with a car, if the electric scooter user is at fault.
„If the scooter owner has household insurance under liability insurance for members of the household, then damages to health or property caused by their riding are also covered. In such a case, the insurer pays for the damage on their behalf,“ Pavol Pastír from UNIQA Insurance’s liability insurance department told the portal zoznam.sk.
Pavol Pastír clarified the fact that if the e-scooter is in poor technical condition and this was not apparent to the scooter user, then compensation for damages falls on the owner or operator of these electric scooters. Here, you should be especially careful with rented e-scooters, such as Bolt.
A very unpleasant video showing an accident between a scooter rider and a car comes from neighboring Czechia. The scooter rider is at fault because they did not give way to the oncoming vehicles.
Compulsory insurance for e-scooter riders from the year 2024
Owners of electric e-scooters with a speed higher than 25 km/h will have to think from 2024 about a new obligation approved by the European Parliament. Compulsory insurance will also apply to e-scooters with a speed higher than 14 km/h and at the same time a weight exceeding 25 kg.
“The new rule should start to apply in less than two years,” at the latest from 1. January 2024. According to the regulation, the obligation will apply to all electric e-scooters and also to segways with speeds of over twenty-five kilometres per hour. The requirement also concerns the owners of an e-scooter that reaches speeds above fourteen kilometres per hour and at the same time weighs more than twenty-five kilograms,” wrote finsider.sk.
The new compulsory insurance does not concern electric bicycles, but that does not apply to all EU countries. For example, Germany and France will introduce this requirement also for e-bicycles, and if Slovaks want to ride them in these countries, they will have to insure them.
Insurance prices may be high at the beginning
OVB Allfinanz Slovakia financial analyst Marián Búlik told the portal finsider.sk that insurers will assess prices for e-scooter insurance based on existing statistics of claims events and the average damages caused.
“The price for the liability insurance (PZP) for electric e-scooters will also depend on what exactly the insurance will cover. In general, if we only talk about liability for damage caused while riding an electric e-scooter, then in my opinion the premium at the beginning should not exceed €50 per year,“ said the director of the non-life insurance division at Finportal, Štefan Fajnor.
What do you think about compulsory insurance (PZP) for e-scooters?
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