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Stories and features about North Carolina candidates, voters, and the politics of the 2014 mid-term elections. Polls are open across N.C. until 7:30 p.m. on election day, November 4.

Moped Drivers: Should They Be Requried To Register Their Mopeds And Buy Insurance?

Lars Elmo via Flickr

A North Carolina Senate committee wants to require moped owners to register their mopeds and buy insurance.

In North Carolina, mopeds owners can travel on roads without registering their vehicle at the Department of Motor Vehicle, owning insurance or having a valid driver's license.

Some members of the General Assembly have been trying for years to change that. Sen. Tom Apodaca (R-Hendersonville), told the senate finance committee on Tuesday morning that there's no financial liability for a moped driver if he crashes into a car.

"As we navigate our roads and try to avoid hitting these mopeds," Apodaca said, "I think it's a little fair for them to have some skin in the game when it comes to insurance."

The House of Representatives has passed a similar bill without the insurance requirement.

Moped retailers say there are people in rural areas who use the mopeds to get to work, and wouldn't be able to afford them if they had to pay insurance.

"It's created a lot of restrictions for us as businessmen," said John Hill, a Greensboro scooter dealer and member of the North Carolina Motorcycle Dealers Association. "I'm not going to sell you one knowing you're going to be in a hardship a year from now."

Jorge Valencia has been with North Carolina Public Radio since 2012. A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Jorge studied journalism at the University of Maryland and reported for four years for the Roanoke Times in Virginia before joining the station. His reporting has also been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, and the Baltimore Sun.
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