The EU Court of Justice has ruled that electric bikes are not obligated to be insured as motor vehicles, because they are not propelled exclusively by mechanical power.
The Court also said e-bikes “do not appear to be capable of causing bodily or material damage to third parties comparable to the damage that may be caused by motorcycles, cars, trucks or other vehicles propelled exclusively by mechanical power”.
The ruling arose from a dispute on whether an e-bike should be regarded as a ‘vehicle’, after a cyclist riding an e-bike on a public road near Bruges, Belgium, was struck by a car and seriously injured, and died several months later.
The legal classification was needed to determine whether the victim was the driver of a ‘motor vehicle’ or whether he was entitled to automatic compensation as a ‘vulnerable road user’ under Belgian law.
In this case, the bike’s motor provided pedal assistance, including through the use of a ‘boost’ function, and that function could only be activated after pedalling the bike, or by walking with or pushing it.
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The Belgian Court of Cassation referred the case to the Court of Justice, as the concept of a ‘vehicle’ in Belgian legislation corresponds to an EU Directive relating to civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles.
The Court of Justice noted that the directive relating to civil liability doesn’t indicate whether a ‘vehicle’ must be propelled exclusively by mechanical power, however it did observe that the directive refers to ‘motor insurance’. This traditionally refers to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of devices such as motorcycles, cars and trucks, which are propelled exclusively by means of mechanical power.
The Court also referred to the objective of the directive, which is to protect victims of road incidents caused by motor vehicles.
It said: “Devices which are not propelled exclusively by mechanical power, such as an electric bicycle which may accelerate to 20 km/h without pedalling, do not appear to be capable of causing bodily or material damage to third parties comparable to the damage that may be caused by motorcycles, cars, trucks or other vehicles propelled exclusively by mechanical power, which can reach significantly higher speeds.”
