Moped owners in North Carolina may soon be required to carry liability insurance, the same as motorcycle and auto owners. The NC General Assembly is considering legislation to make insurance mandatory and is giving serious attention to NC Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) information supporting this position. Currently, moped owners are required to register their bikes, but are not required to carry insurance.
According to the DMV about 8,000 mopeds are sold each year in North Carolina. By law, a moped is defined as a two or three wheeled vehicle with the maximum speed of 30 mph.. Wake and Durham counties are in the top 10 counties for moped related accidents. Nine people were killed and 323 were injured in Wake County alone between 2009 and 2013.
Some moped dealers and owners think the insurance requirement would defeat the purpose for those looking for a cheap transportation alternative. The DMV’s position is that a moped can cause an accident just as easily as a car, so the insurance requirement should become law.
My position is if you operate a vehicle with a motor on the public highways, you should be subject to at least a minimum insurance requirement. Driving a vehicle is inherently dangerous and we each should be responsible for our actions on the road. Insurance is usually the best option when it comes to paying for the consequences. What do you think?
