Getaround boosts car-sharing insurance bill

Peer-to-peer car-sharing service Getaround is stepping up advocacy for legislation that would allow it and companies like it to purchase group insurance policies, thereby allowing such companies to operate in New York.

The company has released a pro-car-sharing radio ad that will run on AM and FM stations upstate Mondays through Fridays this month and postcards being sent to lawmakers that highlight the fact that more than 10,000 New Yorkers are signed up to use Getaround, which allows users to list their idle cars for rental use by other drivers, if and when it is launched.

Legislation authorizing group insurance purchases has not yet been cleared by state lawmakers, though state Senate legislation is ready for a vote from the floor.

“New York is the only state in the country that does not allow car-sharing, this needs to change,” Sen. James L. Seward, R-Otsego County, said in a statement provided by the company. “Car-sharing will allow New Yorkers to meet their daily transportation needs without having to own a car, saving them thousands of dollars per year. This is good for local residents, the environment and our state economy.”

Car-sharing is just one piece of the larger sharing economy that lawmakers in states nationwide are grappling with how to legislate.