By eBikeLink Publisher on Monday, 19 February 2024
Category: Electric Bike Report

New Jersey Passes E-Bike Insurance Bill

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A committee of the New Jersey Senate passed a bill that would require riders of e-mobility devices to carry liability insurance. Outcry over the bill has been significant, in part, due to the fact that the kind of insurance the bill would mandate doesn’t yet exist.

Bill S2292 would require all riders of microbility devices including e-bikes, e-scooters and e-mopeds to carry liability insurance. The coverage would have to be substantive enough to cover the rider and anyone else injured in the event of a crash.

The bill has received vocal pushback from mobility advocates and members of the senate alike, not least because the sort of insurance required doesn’t yet exist.

“I don’t think anybody supports the bill exactly as it’s presently written,” said Patrick Diegnan, the Transportation Committee Chair. “The Senate president is well aware of the input and is working on amendments. And we’ll meet with the advocates in between now and as it goes forward.”

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Citi Bike users would be included in the legislation. Conceivably, Citi Bike would carry the insurance and the cost would be passed on to users as an incremental part of the cost of renting an e-bike from them.

A coalition of groups opposed to the legislation sent a letter to the New Jersey Senate President Nicolas Scutari.

“This bill works against many of New Jersey’s own policy goals,” stated the letter. Signees included the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Regional Plan Association, Bike Hoboken, League of American Bicyclists, Citi Bike, PeopleForBikes and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

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Original author: Patrick Brady

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