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FOCUS ON > VOICE TO... PUBLIC AFFAIR COMMISSION EXEMPTION OF MOTORSPORT FROM THE MOTOR INSURANCE DIRECTIVE

Motorsport has been opposing the Vnuk motor insurance ruling for several years due to the requirement of a wide range of mechanically-powered vehicles, including those driven on private land such as a racing circuit, to be insured. This would mean that any collision in European motorsport would be treated as a road trafc incident. Following the legal judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union in September 2014, the Vnuk ruling requires vehicles such as e-kick scooters or golf buggies to have insurance, even on private land.

The Act was adopted by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, and the amendments to the motor insurance Directive have been signed into law. The section on motorsport is the following:

‘This Directive shall not apply to the use of a vehicle in motorsport events and activities, including races, competitions, training, testing and demonstrations in a restricted and demarcated area in a Member State, where the Member State ensures that the organiser of the activity or any other party has taken out an alternative insurance or guarantee policy covering the damage to any third party, including spectators and other bystanders but not necessarily covering the damage to the participating drivers and their vehicles.’ (Art. 3b)

This means that EU Member States will be obligated to introduce legislation that exempts motorsport (as described) but insists on some kind of 3rd party insurance for events. They will have 24 months to introduce this legislation if they do not have it.

In addition to motorsport, FIM concerns regarding museums and other collections are partly addressed by revised Article 5 paragraph 3 which says:

‘A Member State may derogate from Article 3 in respect of vehicles that are temporarily or permanently withdrawn and prohibited from use, provided that a formal administrative procedure or other verifable measure in accordance with national law has been put in place. Any Member State so derogating shall ensure that vehicles referred to in the frst subparagraph are treated in the same way as vehicles in respect of which the insurance obligation referred to in Article 3 has not been satisfed. The guarantee fund of the Member State in which an accident has taken place shall then have a claim against the guarantee fund in the Member State where the vehicle is normally based.’

This can be best interpreted as stating that EU Member States can choose not to require insurance for de-registered vehicles (for example), but that the national guarantee fund would be liable for any claims. Again, Member States may already have similar legislation that brings this in efect, but some others will require new legislation to do so. If a Member State chooses not to follow the proposed Article, all vehicles, even museum ones and boxes of bits in a garage, would need a motor insurance.

After this positive outcome for motorsport in Europe, the FMNs are requested now to contact their national governments and assist them on how they can bring the new legislation in force with the less harmful way for the sport and the motorcycle heritage.