Peer-to-peer car-sharing legislation passed the Oregon Senate in a 25-3 vote back in June 2011, allowing the collective consumer model to be used in the state for vehicle sharing.

Since the passage of House Bill 3149, at least two companies have announced expansion to the state: Getaround will be running its peer-to-peer service by February through a federal grant and fresh-off-the-block JustShareIt has mentioned that it plans to expand to Oregon later this year after just launching in San Francisco Jan. 1.

The Oregon legislation was passed in order to make sure all personal vehicles used in the programs were properly insured. The bill outlines that a vehicle owner’s insurance policy must include personal injury protection and uninsured motorist coverage. It also requires that each “personal vehicle-sharing program” provides a program insurance policy with coverage for each vehicle that it facilitates the use of.

In terms of liability, the bill states that if a vehicle owner is named as a defendant in a civil action for loss or injury that occurs when the owner is not driving the vehicle, but it is instead being used in the car-sharing program, “[T]he program shall have the duty to defend and indemnify the vehicle's registered owner.”

HB 3149 also prohibits the use of commercial vehicles as defined by Oregon law in a personal vehicle-sharing program.

The peer-to-peer model has come under recent scrutiny after HiGear, a luxury vehicle peer-to-peer sharing model, shut down after a series of thefts in California. (For a blog on the issue, click here.) California passed its peer-to-peer legislation in September 2010 under Assemby Bill 1871.

For the official legislation outlining all the requirements for a car-sharing company in Oregon, click on the URL: http://www.leg.state.or.us/11reg/measures/hb3100.dir/hb3149.en.html

For a PDF of California's bill AB 1871, click here.