Insurers are expecting an influx of insuring scooter riders: so far, people are not responding to the requirements

Rokas from Vilnius has a car, but he has been running from one photo session to another on an electric scooter for the third year. It’s faster, and you don’t have to worry about parking.

“When the surface is more wet, at the same time it’s a little slippery, it’s already a threat both to me and maybe to others, if, for example, I couldn’t stop or something like that,” said Rokas.

During the warm seasons, Rock travels this way almost every day, but he says that he does not think about insurance, because the guy trusts his skills.

“Basically, everything depends on the driver’s responsibility. You have to keep a very good eye on the situation and especially the driver’s license also helps a little. Namely, to observe the situation, to calculate both your own actions and those of other road users,” said the boy.

From January, electric scooters, rollerblades, bicycles or lawn tractors with a speed of more than 25 km/h must be covered by civil insurance. Unfortunately, according to insurers, no one is in a hurry to do this.

“Today, the importance of insurance in this area is very small. In the first quarter, we concluded about 120 insurance policies at “Lietuvos draudime”. This is a really small part”, pointed out Saulius Abraškevičius, representative of Lietuvos drimadu.

“So far, there are not many people who have insured unregistered vehicles. “Gjensidige” has slightly more than 200 such clients,” asserted Gjensidige’s claims manager for the Baltic countries, Viktorija Katilienė.

Research shows that only 4 out of 10 residents of Lithuania are interested in insuring or taking out insurance for scooters. Perhaps this is because scooters are still considered by many to be a hobby rather than a means of transport.

“They do not consider those scooters as full-fledged vehicles, as a result of which tragic and painful traffic accidents often occur. As an example, 39 scooter riders were injured in the city of Vilnius last year alone,” said Donatas Mankauskas, representative of the Vilnius traffic police.

Experts say that residents are in no hurry to get insurance, because they believe that if they follow the rules, they will avoid injuries. However, insurers remind that accidents can be caused by other drivers.

“Scooter users don’t always behave as they should. And speeding and riding unsafely, several on one scooter. When injuries happen, they are, believe me, very serious and complicated,” said the representative of Lietuvos dramudis.

“It is understood that those security requirements are imposed in order to avoid fines or it is necessary for the police. Not really. First of all, all those safety requirements are imposed so that those scooter riders protect their lives and health”, said D. Mankauskas.

Police say that although the innovation was introduced only a few months ago, the results are already visible.

“For certain micro-injuries, people used to not even come forward and report that injury. With the emergence of insurance health benefits – people apply, take advantage of the opportunity. It really makes it easier for both people and road users,” said the police representative.

But even for those who do not insure scooters, insurers have good knowledge.

“If the scooter was not insured, but caused damage, then the injured person could simply apply to any insurance company and the damage would be compensated by the insurer’s office, but only if that uninsured vehicle is identified,” said Gjensidige claims manager at Baltijos countries.

Insurers hope to get more insuring scooter riders when the weather warms up.