Insurance companies push to make e bike insurance compulsory.

[Wisper Bikes]

From Bike Biz

Let's hope the powers that be can see through this blatant attempt by insurance companies to cash in on the huge growth in electric cycling!

David

Insurance Companies Start Smear Campaign against
e-Bikes in Germany

BERLIN, Germany – German insurance companies are apparently pushing for laws and regulations on e-bikes from which they can benefit now that electric bikes are becoming mainstream in the country. In order to establish such regulations they have started a smear campaign against e-bikes with films that show ludicrous ‘tests’ that must prove that e-bikes are unsafe.

YouTube - Crashtests zeigen hohe Unfallrisiken durch Elektrofahrräder

A film on You Tube shows how these ‘tests’ are performed. The two ‘tests’ must prove that pedal assisted e-bikes as well as speed pedelcs are unsafe. The test with a pedal assisted e-bike shows two test-dummy’s on bikes that pass each other. One test-dummy on an e-bike is passing the other at 25 km/h. This dummy on the e-bike touches the other and they both crash. The other test shows a speed pedelec crashing full into the side of a car at 45 km/h.

The obvious goal of these tests - which are a far cry from reality as the film on YouTube makes abundantly clear – is pushing for laws and regulations on e-bikes that benefit insurance companies.

In The Netherlands, where at this moment over 600,000 electric bicycles are in use, there are no special laws and regulations for pedal assisted bicycles. Obviously, insurance companies in The Netherlands have a wealth of experience and knowledge on the safety records of these vehicles.

 

[z0mb13e]

Seems inevitable really. Anything that allows a bit of freedom is fair game for regulation.

Fingers crossed that the insurance companies don't start this over here. Otherwise we might as well ditch the 250w/15mph limit and ride the higher power bikes that do require insurance/helmet etc...

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Zombie, a great argument and one I will use!

All the best

David

 

[banbury frank]

Hi I think you are all looking at this the wrong way

It is very difficult to get good insurance cover on E bikes at a good price

I have a 60 mph Lithium powered scooter £110 per year full Com


So Electric bike Should be £40 to £60 per year

With the cost off bikes being Up to £2500

You are MAD if you don't have full com insurance If you can find cover

If some idiot knocks you off or steals your bike

I also Supply FREE a Good quality Helmet with every e Bike we supply . I sleep at night

We also wont let you test one off our bikes unless you wear the helmet provided


Frank

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Frank, I have no issue with the obvious sense in insuring EPACs, I advocate it and have links to insurers on the Wisper site. I am worried that compulsory insurance will lead to compulsory registration, MOT's and so on. One of the advantages of owning an electric bicycle is the lack of red tape and expense, both of which will be lost as soon as insurance becomes mandatory.

Best regards

David

 

[tillson]

I really don’t see the point to compulsory insurance, other than to open up another avenue of profit for insurance companies. A legal electric bike can do nothing more than conventional bikes have been doing for decades. Its just that an electric bike makes it easier to do those things. Electric bikes are no faster and the mass/weight differential between the two types is negligible when it comes to the amount of energy imparted in a collision, and it is the energy which causes the damage / injury. We have managed for a century without bicycle insurance, why do we need it now? Has something changed?

I know that we have discussed it at length before, but the fact remains that if we overtly discuss our 1KW+ 30 mph+ illegal moped bikes, it is going to do nothing to help our cause. And the people who sell them are contributing to the insurance companys' case too. It’s a nonsense to pretend that they are for, “off-road use”. Everyone known damn well what the game is, these people aren’t stupid.

I think we are all aware of the type of character that tends to populate the higher ranks of the Uk financial industry. If they get a whiff of this happening in other countries, there will be a strong lobby to bring it here.

The government will find compulsory insurance attractive too. They will stand to cream off 5% tax, so don't expect any support there.

Edit:
I have just watched that ridiculous video. I have no desire to understand the commentary, but from the film footage alone, what the hell does that prove? A legal electric bike is no more or less susceptible to either of those events than a standard un-assisted bike. Why, all of a sudden, have bicycles become so dangerous that they need to be insured?

There may be a case for the German higher assist speed / power variants to be insured, but they are anyway, aren't they?

 

[neilmeansneil]

As a memeber of the Cycle Tourist Club I have £10 million Third party insurance, surely that would satisfy any legal need and give peace of mind.

Join CTC

 

[lemmy]

We also wont let you test one off our bikes unless you wear the helmet provided

That makes your place one that I won't shop in, then. The last thing in the world I need is a bike dealer for a nanny.

I'm not questioning your right to do it, Frank, just your need to control others who, often like myself, having ridden for 60 years without accident, know how to protect themselves better than any stranger can.

I wear a helmet if I choose to, not some self appointed guardian, well meaning or not.

 

[lectureral]

You are MAD if you don't have full com insurance


Frank

I do disagree Frank - it's a perfectly rational decision, depending on one's own circumstances. After all, insurance is a gamble - betting on yourself to lose. If you take the view that the odds of losing are small you might be better not paying the premium depending on the likely loss versus the cost of the premium. I reckon many people end up double insuring some risks.

 

[tillson]

I reckon many people end up double insuring some risks.

neilmeansneil in post No. 7 is probably a case in point. (Sorry) He, MAY be already covered on his home insurance for third party liability for something in the region of £5000000. A lot of policies have this.

 

[flecc]

The insurance companies may not have thought this through very well. Many countries don't have age limits on e-bikes, in Britain the lower age limit is 14 years old (1988 RTA).

Governments will be very reluctant to legislate such things as compulsory insurance for children, they are normally excluded from such measures. An example is the British law on cycling on pavements where the on the spot fine cannot by law be administered to anyone under 16 years old.

So an attempt at compulsory insurance for e-bikes would conceivably entail limiting their use to older age groups only. I can only see governments sidestepping a can of worms like this, making good use of a pending tray.
.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

That's why we call you the Guru!

All the best

David

 

[LeonardYoung]

Soon we'll have insurance proposed for walkers, or ramblers in case they bump into each other on a hike. Who knows, birds will be required to display navigation lights and strobes, or perhaps roadside trees will have to be individually insured and lit, or yellow reflective vests worn in every office in case the "human resources manager" can't "see" you.

Only the other day my partner proposed private liability insurance in case she slipped on my kitchen floor and wanted to sue me for £15 million.

Every roller skate should of course have comprehensive insurance - £1 million liability for each foot - and farm gates need permanent red flashing brake lights in case you bump in to them (tail "gating").

As we speak I am reaching for the phone to tell my broker to provide a policy against my wad of elastic bands from snapping and injuring my thumb. Whatever next!

 

[Scottyf]

It won't happen.

Far to complex to implement / control and enforce.
Not mainstream enough to create any profit for now. That is untill we all have electric vehicles then it will need to be changed.

Revel in it while it lasts.

Scare mongers ;-)

 

[allen-uk]

Hi Zombie, a great argument and one I will use!

David

Not the BEST argument, though, David, at least not for those of us who, for whatever reason, have fallen foul of the DVLA and have had car licences revoked. For us, unregulated ebikes are pretty much the only way we have of getting about without resorting to buses or walking.

A

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Allen, I don't think we will see compulsory insurance on Pedalecs unless of course all pedal bikes fall into the trap. I also believe if it were to happen it would be the individual that is insured alone rather than being linked to a specific vehicle. I simply meant I had not thought along those lines.

All the best

David

 

[lectureral]

or yellow reflective vests worn in every office

Not quite that, but in France every car is required to carry one (+ warning triangle) - when the legislation was brought in a couple of years ago French drivers seemed to think that they had to be visible or else they would be stopped by the police and every second car had a yellow vest draped over the passenger seat.

 

[indalo]

I'm with the majority view expressed on this topic, particularly empathising with Tillson's first post.

Indalo

 

[LeonardYoung]

Having gained some seriousness (though it's hard), the vast, vast majority of bike accidents result in the cyclist sustaining injury and damage, unless anyone here would like to give salient examples of strings of injuries or deaths CAUSED by bikes, as opposed to the thousands caused to cyclists and cycles by cars and particularly lorries and vans in London, Bristol, Birmingham etc.

So public liability insurance has to be a cynical ploy by insurers to drum up support over entirely bogus scare mongering. Let's hope any vaguely intelligent legislature will see right through this ridiculous desperation.

Of course voluntary insurance is a good thing. But almost all actions taken will be cyclist vs driver, not the other way round. Legal e-bikes (that is, e-bikes that conform to current restrictions) are no more dangerous than other cycles, prams, roller bladed skaters, disability scooters et al.

 

[banbury frank]

Hi I have NEVER had a problem with a customer wearing a helmet But my bikes do 30 MPH+ I would NOT Argue with a customer if he don't want to wear a helmet that is his wright

I supply one with every Bike If the customer gives it away OK I still sleep at night

I total agree about insurance NOT being compulsory my point is that it should be a lot cheaper and more available like Free on your household insurance as a listed Item

Like An expensive non electric Bike

Frank