Skateboard owners will have to take out insurance from next January
September 22 , 2025 // Specialty : Liability derived from the use of motor vehicles
Published in El País
The reform of the Motor Vehicle Insurance Act, already approved by Congress, mandates the availability of a liability policy in the event of an accident
Owners of personal mobility vehicles (PMVs), including scooters, will have to take out a liability policy from next January in order to drive. This was recently approved by the Congress of Deputies, through an amendment to the Motor Vehicle Insurance Act. The legislative change will also entail the creation of a register of the owners of these devices at the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) in the coming months.
Until that date, VMPs will be able to circulate without any requirements. This has caused that, when these skateboarders are involved in an accident and their driver is deemed guilty of the same, the third party who has been harmed personally or in their vehicle is seen unprotected. In more than one percance, the owner of the skateboard has declared insolvent to face a high compensation. In other cases it has had to respond directly with its estate.
To end this situation, the legislative amendment, which the Government sent to Parliament last May, introduces the concept of light personal vehicle into the rule. These are, according to the definition, electric motor vehicles that circulate on the ground by means of one or more wheels, are equipped with a single seat and can reach a maximum speed of between 6 and 25 kilometers per hour, provided that their weight is less than 25 kilograms. If you exceed them, the top speed will never exceed 14 kilometers per hour. That's right, it's common to see these skateboards circulating on the streets of cities at higher speeds, since the motors are usually modified and more power is given to the batteries to run faster. Some even exceed 60 kilometers per hour, according to police sources. It is also common to see more than one person mounted on the device.
The compulsory liability insurance seeks to match the drive for sustainable transportation with the protection of victims of accidents caused by these vehicles, according to sources at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise. A commission will be in charge from now on to draft a regulation to specify the exact development of the obligation of insurance.
This will also lead to the Administration having a public registry of personal vehicles before 2 January 2026. This competence will fall, in principle, to the General Directorate of Traffic, which has a database of all vehicles circulating in Spanish territory, except bicycles. DGT sources have pointed out to EL PAÍS that to date they have not yet received the order for the creation of that registry. It is, therefore, unknown how and when this will be done. Until it is completed, the number of skateboards circulating in Spain is unknown. The Spanish Federation of Personal Mobility Vehicles assured at the end of 2023 that there were about five million.
Traffic sources believe that the number of users may have come down in recent years before the ban on entering public transport with them due to the risk of them catching fire or causing an explosion. Some cities, such as Madrid, have revoked permits for skateboard rental companies. The cause: the mismatch between those companies’ technology for controlling their users’ mobility with maintaining pedestrian safety. The Spanish Association of Entities Collaborating with the Administration in the Technical Inspection of Vehicles (AECA-ITV) has repeatedly requested that these vehicles also pass the ITV to avoid modifications that allow them to circulate at higher speeds and also avoid the risk of fires when handling batteries. From 2027, only approved models will be allowed to circulate.
