Do electric bikes need to be insured? Here’s what the EU Court of Justice says
For the Court of Justice of the European Union, vehicles that are not driven exclusively by mechanical force, such as an electrically assisted bicycle that can accelerate without pedaling up to a speed of 20 km/h, are not capable of causing damage to third parties physical or material similar to that which motorcycles can cause
Electrically assisted bicycles are not among the vehicles with compulsory insurance as they are not driven exclusively by mechanical force: this was stated by the Court of Justice of the European Union when ruling on the legal qualification of the vehicle.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DISTINCTION
These are not legal and even less philosophical niceties: in this case, in fact, an electric bicycle had been involved in a serious accident and changing the definition would have meant that the victim was the driver of a "motor vehicle" or could have right to automatic compensation as a "weak road user".
In its ruling , the Court of Justice noted first of all that the European directive on civil liability resulting from the use of motor vehicles does not contain indications to establish whether mechanical force must play an exclusive role in the operation of a vehicle.
However, the directive refers to "motor vehicle insurance", an expression which, in current language, traditionally concerns the insurance of civil liability resulting from the circulation of vehicles such as motorcycles, cars and lorries which are moved exclusively by a force mechanics.
THE COURT'S REASONING
The Court also recalls the objective of the directive, which is to protect victims of road accidents caused by motor vehicles. This objective does not require that electrically assisted bicycles fall within the concept of 'vehicle' within the meaning of the Directive. In fact, the Court of Justice maintains, vehicles which are not driven exclusively by mechanical force, such as an electrically assisted bicycle which can accelerate without pedaling up to a speed of 20 km/h, are not capable of causing physical or physical damage to third parties. materials similar to those that can cause motorcycles, cars, trucks or other vehicles driven exclusively by mechanical force, the latter being able to circulate significantly faster.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/bici-elettriche-vanno-assicurate-ecco-che-dice-la-corte-di-giustizia-ue/ on Thu, 12 Oct 2023 14:04:36 +0000.