They warn about the considerable increase in accidents on electric scooters

by time news

Accidents in the use and circulation of the so-called Personal Mobility Vehicles (electric scooters) are multiplying, generating their own damages and third parties, and the victims are unprotected and may not be compensated for the damages and losses suffered due to the existing legislative loopholes and the disparity of regulations in each municipality. And the mandatory insurance for electric scooters, recently announced by DGT, “will not be effective until 2024 given its technical complexity in establishing the legislation that covers this type of insurance.” This is how they denounce this situation from ANAVA-RC, the National Association of Lawyers for Victims of Accidents and Civil Liability.

It urges a quick solution in this increasing road reality and ensures that the compulsory insurance for electric scooters that the DGT has just announced must be backed by a legal legal framework that supports it. Although they are not motor vehicles, they are within the regulation of the Traffic and Road Safety Law, which means that drivers have to respect driving regulations. However, it is a debate that must be faced since according to a report by the insurer Mapfre, in 2021 there were no less than 13 fatal accidents and so far this year, there have been more than 200 accidents with injuriesof them 44 serious.

For Manuel Castellanospresident of ANAVA-RC, there are many issues to discuss, including differentiating between whether to insure the driver or the scooter, finding a flexible option that can be adapted to the risk that you want to protect and also taking into account that your drivers are circulating on the road and who do not have a driver’s license, and many of them, do not even know the traffic regulations.

“What is evident is that this type of vehicle promotes sustainability and the environment, which is why they are gaining a very important weight in cities. However, what the administration is currently doing is protecting pedestrians from sidewalks by prohibiting their movement on them. The transfer of the users of the scooters to the road is generating other types of much more dangerous accidents because the vehicles with which they coexist circulate at 50 and 60 km / h, while the electric scooter can circulate at a maximum of 25km / h » , he points out.

Regarding the obligation to have insurance, Castellanos assures that “its insurance must be an urgent reality and, if possible, with the same coverage as compulsory car insurance, but unfortunately its regulation will take time to be implemented because there is a tremendous legal vacuum and there is a need to protect injured third parties. The user usually rents these vehicles and the accidents are created by these scooters in front of a pedestrian, but the user who is driving it can also suffer. However, if the driver of the scooter suffers from a motor vehicle, it would be covered by compulsory car insurance. The problem is when the driver of the scooter is the cause of the damage. In that case there is no insurance and, except in cases covered by the scooter driver’s home insurance, the victim can be left without being compensated for the damages suffered if the scooter user is insolvent.

When defining a specific insurance, aspects such as the premium and its coverage should be taken into account. These vehicles can cause death or serious injury. When acquiring them, they can cost about 300 euros, that is why the premium must be adequate, from 25 to 80 euros, with which it would be necessary to see what coverage is proposed. From ANAVA-RC they see it foreseeable at the regulatory level that in the face of the abuse of this type of vehicle, other measures are established such as the use of reflectors, registration, helmet, circulation permit…

To this must be added that the DGT issues instructions only aimed at the police administratively sanctioning users who drive scooters irresponsibly, negligently or in violation of traffic regulations, but does not activate awareness campaigns of a reality as latent as the of the multiplication of these personal mobility vehicles and the need to get used to, driving with the necessary precaution, in the coexistence of the users of electric scooters on public roads.

Finally, Castellanos emphasizes that “we are aware that users of scooters that cause serious injury or death to pedestrians due to the negligent use of the personal mobility vehicle or the tricking of it, may incur criminal liability that may even entail prison sentence, so we all have to be aware that it can be an element of risk, hence its need for insurance comparable to compulsory car insurance.

Added to this is the delay that will arise when establishing the legislation that protects this type of insurance. To have legal coverage, the fastest solution would be to make it mandatory at the national level.

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