Mandatory insurance for scooters and gyro scooters

For many years, Community Directives have issued legislation, rulings and recommendations to protect consumers and road users, and to provide greater protection to those injured, victims of road accidents.

In Europe, there has been concern not only about the number, but also the type of “vehicles” that circulate in public spaces, due to changes in the very concept of urban mobility, associated with technological developments.

In fact, scooters, bicycles, boards, gyro scooters, etc. are proliferating, most of them electric, but also combustion-powered, and they are not always regulated in terms of correct approval for use and sale, and even less so in terms of safety requirements, whether for the user or for third parties.

Confusion, lack of supervision and disregard for the most basic common sense have reigned, despite the fact that most Member States' legislation has been regulating the issue in a timely manner.

Both Directive 2009/103/EC, amended by Directive 2021/2118, and the European Parliament Resolution of 2023, have reinforced the need to guarantee, through adequate insurance, the circulation of vehicles that are not powered exclusively by combustion engines, recommending harmonized technical standards, a clear definition of circulation spaces, mandatory use of helmets, parking rules and awareness-raising campaigns.

It focuses particularly on the protection of “vulnerable users”, pedestrians and people with reduced mobility, calling for the adoption of 30 km/h zones, separate cycle paths and effective monitoring.

In Estonia, insurance is mandatory for scooters that reach speeds of more than 25 km/h on level ground or weigh more than 25 kg and reach speeds of more than 14 km/h, since 2024.

In Sweden, Italy and Germany, insurance is mandatory for scooters, with mandatory registration and use of a helmet.

In Finland, scooters that reach speeds of more than 15 km/h are e-scooters, subject to mandatory insurance.

E-bikes that reach an assisted speed of less than 25 km/h/250 W remain exempt from the insurance obligation, under the terms of the Directive, but some States have already extended the insurance obligation to these “vehicles” – in Sweden, e-scooters and e-Bikes are the same, all of which have been subject to mandatory insurance since 2023. In Norway and Germany, “light electric vehicles” require visible insurance with a sticker, registration number, age limit and blood alcohol restrictions.

Portugal stood out until 2025 for being completely oblivious to the issue, with no minimum age control, no license plates, no helmets, no insurance…

DL. 26/2025, effective March 20, 2025, seeking to transpose the aforementioned Directive, established that electric bicycles or scooters that exceed 25 km/h or 250 W of power or that weigh more than 25 kg and have a speed greater than 14 km/h will become legally “motor vehicles” - and are required to have Motor Vehicle Liability insurance.

Commendable but still insufficient.

There is an urgent need to raise awareness, monitor, regulate the use of helmets, implement registration, minimum age and blood alcohol requirements.

Due to the climate, growing tourism, mobility challenges, lack of efficiency in public transport and delivery services, Portugal has high rates of use of these “vehicles”, whose drivers cause or suffer accidents every day, with victims and serious bodily and material damage.

A lot of work still ahead…