Individuals or companies owning scooters and e-bikes with a maximum design speed of more than 25 km/h will have to provide them with an RCA, according to a bill released for public comment on Monday by the Ministry of Finance.

The draft regulation transposes into national legislation the EU directive, which makes changes to RCA legislation, among which the changes relate to the technical redefinition of the term “vehicle”.

• “Therefore, vehicles that are not subject to registration/registration according to national legislation (electric scooters, electric bicycles and other vehicles) will also be subject to the obligation of insurance,” the message says. in the explanatory note.

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Which electric scooters will require an RCA

Not all e-scooters or e-bikes will require an RCA, only those with a maximum design speed of more than 25 km/h or those with a curb weight of more than 25 kg and a maximum design speed of more than 14 km. / hour

This is due to the fact that in the bill the term “vehicle” will be worded as follows:

• a) any ground vehicles with their own engine with a maximum design speed of more than 25 km/h; or
• b) any self-propelled land vehicle with an own weight of more than 25 kg and a maximum design speed of more than 14 km/h;
• (c) any trailer intended for use with a vehicle referred to in (a) or (b), whether coupled or not;
• d) tram;”

Reasons for implementing RCA in electric scooters: Number of accidents

One of the most important reasons justifying the legislative proposal is the issue of compensation coverage for victims of traffic accidents, persons who have suffered as a result of traffic accidents, when the vehicles that caused these accidents cannot be registered, but are used in traffic or on private territories , which are open to public traffic, the explanatory note says.

• “As a result of technological development, many new types of motorized vehicles appeared on the Romanian market, vehicles that, due to their characteristics, are not subject to mandatory registration/registration, but are the cause of road accidents with material damage and bodily injuries.
• Some of them are driven solely by an electric motor, others by auxiliary equipment, and such vehicles should be taken into account when defining the concept of “vehicle” for which RCA insurance is required in the European Union and Romania.
• This definition shall be based on the general characteristics of such vehicles, in particular the maximum design speed and unladen mass, and shall include only those vehicles propelled by engines that generate mechanical power.
• The definition should apply irrespective of the number of wheels on the vehicle and whether the vehicles are subject to registration/registration or not.
• The absence of such regulation leads to the exclusion of these vehicles from the obligation to insure, in this case damages caused to the victim/injured persons as a result of traffic accidents that occurred while driving on roads open to public traffic or on private, unfenced roads roads are not covered, on which access to people is not prohibited,” the document says.

While RCA is not mandatory, it should be said that currently scooters and e-bikes can be insured if desired.

Electric scooter drivers in Romania have caused more than 2,600 accidents in the last 5 years and the first 6 months of this year, most of them in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Constanta and Galaţi, resulting in 20 deaths and 373 injuries. According to the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, 2,363 received minor injuries.

• Read also: Do ​​you have an electric scooter? You may be forced to insure it with RCA as early as this year

Other changes to the legislation on RKA

• Limitation of RCA coverage based on concept of vehicle use. Cases where road accidents occur in situations where vehicles are not used as vehicles are excluded;
• Regulating minimum compensation limits and establishing their reference in lei at the rate specified in the directive;
• RCA insurance control method. It is allowed to use electronic RCA insurance monitoring devices in traffic without stopping vehicles, subject to compliance with GDPR legislation;
• Introduction of a standardized format at the European level regarding the attestation of the policyholder’s loss history covered by RCA;
• Regulation of the possibility of suspending the validity of the RCA contract upon application for the period of suspension of vehicle registration with the introduction of certain obligations for the insured for this period.

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