A conference committee will work to resolve differences between House and Senate versions of the so-dubbed “moped insurance bill.”
The Senate’s version, approved July 16, would require liability insurance for mopeds if signed into law.
The House version, passed in June, would not; instead, it sought a study that could determine whether the state needs stronger regulations over the low-speed, two-wheel vehicles that anyone over the age of 16 may operate on highways and public roads legally without a license, registration or insurance.
(Both the House and Senate proposals would require registration, though.)
The House did not concur with the Senate’s version when it hit the floor for a vote Thursday, so it goes to a conference committee that will include an area legislator–Rep. Chris Millis (R-Pender), a primary sponsor of the House bill.
Recent story: Moped insurance proposal could cost operators hundreds of dollars annually
Although the House version originally sought an insurance requirement, Millis and fellow legislators pulled back amid uncertainties over how insurance companies would handle unlicensed moped operators who might not have a driving record to help determine premiums.
But the bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Phil Shepard (R-Onslow), said during House floor discussion Thursday that he’d later learned from the N.C. Department of Insurance and the private industry that mopeds are indeed insurable, without the logistical problems pondered.
“They assured us that they were already rating and insuring mopeds,” said Shepard, who asked the House to concur with the Senate version. His motion failed 51-54.
Flat-out opponents of an insurance requirement, including Rep. Mike Stone (R-Lee), have argued it would be an unfair financial hardship on low-income residents who need transportation to jobs.
“In a time when people are really trying to get up and move …. we come back and now we’re going to tell everyone that you’ve got to put insurance on [mopeds], and you’re just going to really cripple a part of our community that this is all they have,” said Stone. “This is all they have to get back and forth to work.”
Supporters of the Senate proposal say it’s only fair to mandate financial responsibility for moped drivers if they’re going to share the roads with–and potentially be at fault in collisions with–motorcycles and cars, which are required to carry liability insurance.
Posed Rep. Rayne Brown (R-Davidson), “Should they not be held to the same standards as the rest of us?”
Click here for full details on the bill.
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at [email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter: @benbrownmedia
