An interesting division of views is currently playing out in Spain
regarding so-called 'active travel'. In the same year that its Ministry
of Transport approved the allocation of 600 million euro to promote
urban cycling, its Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital
Transformation wants to bring 'personal mobility vehicles' under regular
motor vehicle regulations, having the effect that electric bicycles will
require compulsory insurance.

The idea of compulsory insurance for all cyclists, e-bike or otherwise,
is popular with the general public, with a massive two-thirds of
respondents to a 2020 YouGov poll believing that cyclists should be made
to have insurance.

The Spanish Bicycle Board, made up of notable cyclists, legal
professionals and bike manufacturers, unsurprisingly claims such
compulsory insurance is unworkable, and for good measure says it is at
odds with European regulations.

Alfonso Treviño, general secretary of the Association of Professional
Cyclists, blames lobbying from insurance companies for ministries
suggesting that e-bikes should be insured, claiming that it could be a
cash cow for them, presumably on the spurious grounds that cyclists will
have very few claims made against them,

The dispute has been rumbling since at least 2018, when Spanish minister
Fernando Grande Marlaska proposed compulsory insurance.

On social media, some have asked what the proposed changes would mean
for tourists visiting the country who want to hire or use an e-bike,
presumably on the grounds that tourists don't hire cars, for example,
because of such imagined difficulties.

You did not read this story at <road.cc>

--
Spike

On 18/04/22 04:10, Spike wrote:
>
>
> An interesting division of views is currently playing out in Spain
> regarding so-called 'active travel'. In the same year that its Ministry
> of Transport approved the allocation of 600 million euro to promote
> urban cycling, its Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital
> Transformation wants to bring 'personal mobility vehicles' under regular
> motor vehicle regulations, having the effect that electric bicycles will
> require compulsory insurance.
>
> The idea of compulsory insurance for all cyclists, e-bike or otherwise,
> is popular with the general public, with a massive two-thirds of
> respondents to a 2020 YouGov poll believing that cyclists should be made
> to have insurance.
>
> The Spanish Bicycle Board, made up of notable cyclists, legal
> professionals and bike manufacturers, unsurprisingly claims such
> compulsory insurance is unworkable, and for good measure says it is at
> odds with European regulations.
>
> Alfonso Treviño, general secretary of the Association of Professional
> Cyclists, blames lobbying from insurance companies for ministries
> suggesting that e-bikes should be insured, claiming that it could be a
> cash cow for them, presumably on the spurious grounds that cyclists will
> have very few claims made against them,
>
> The dispute has been rumbling since at least 2018, when Spanish minister
> Fernando Grande Marlaska proposed compulsory insurance.
>
> On social media, some have asked what the proposed changes would mean
> for tourists visiting the country who want to hire or use an e-bike,
> presumably on the grounds that tourists don't hire cars, for example,
> because of such imagined difficulties.
>
>
> You did not read this story at <road.cc>
>
>
An e-bike is a bicycle with a motor.
By definition that is a motorbike.

On 18/04/2022 10:11 am, Peter Keller wrote:

> On 18/04/22 04:10, Spike wrote:
>
>> An interesting division of views is currently playing out in Spain
>> regarding so-called 'active travel'. In the same year that its Ministry
>> of Transport approved the allocation of 600 million euro to promote
>> urban cycling, its Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital
>> Transformation wants to bring 'personal mobility vehicles' under regular
>> motor vehicle regulations, having the effect that electric bicycles will
>> require compulsory insurance.
>>
>> The idea of compulsory insurance for all cyclists, e-bike or otherwise,
>> is popular with the general public, with a massive two-thirds of
>> respondents to a 2020 YouGov poll believing that cyclists should be made
>> to have insurance.
>>
>> The Spanish Bicycle Board, made up of notable cyclists, legal
>> professionals and bike manufacturers, unsurprisingly claims such
>> compulsory insurance is unworkable, and for good measure says it is at
>> odds with European regulations.
>>
>> Alfonso Treviño, general secretary of the Association of Professional
>> Cyclists, blames lobbying from insurance companies for ministries
>> suggesting that e-bikes should be insured, claiming that it could be a
>> cash cow for them, presumably on the spurious grounds that cyclists will
>> have very few claims made against them,
>>
>> The dispute has been rumbling since at least 2018, when Spanish minister
>> Fernando Grande Marlaska proposed compulsory insurance.
>>
>> On social media, some have asked what the proposed changes would mean
>> for tourists visiting the country who want to hire or use an e-bike,
>> presumably on the grounds that tourists don't hire cars, for example,
>> because of such imagined difficulties.
>>
>>
>> You did not read this story at <road.cc>
>>
>>
> An e-bike is a bicycle with a motor.
> By definition that is a motorbike.

Quite so. And riding a motorbike requires the rider to be licenced (a
provisional will do for certain low-powered machines) and insured and
the motorbike to be registered and displaying a registration mark.

One wonders why the usual UK savant suspects have failed to grasp that
simple fact.