Alabama Law Tries to Put a Stop to Uninsured Motorists

Although it may be the state law that every driver has to have liability insurance, that doesn’t mean that all drivers abide the law. Alabama has the sixth highest rate of uninsured drivers across the United States. This leave many drivers who have insurance at risk for a potential accident where they will see no pay out except from their own insurance company and Alabama is tired of making its citizens who obey the law pay for damages. Starting January 1, a new law will

go into effect that will help to pinpoint who is driving without insurance and make them pay.

Uninsured Motorists in Alabama Should Watch Out

A new online verification system has been put into place and was headed by the state Revenue Department. With this new system, officials can check the insurance company records within seconds. Currently, motorist would purchase insurance to renew their car tags and would then receive an insurance card. But if the motorist stopped paying for insurance, they still had the card so if a police officer pulled them

over, it seemed as if they legally had insurance. Now, that won’t work. Insurance will automatically be associated with a car’s tags and when a police officer runs someone’s information, it will show whether or not the driver has valid insurance.

Uninsured Motorist Face Large Fines

If they do not, the offender can be fined and this is no small fine. A first offense is $500 and any other tickets after that can go up to $1,000. The state didn’t want to impose a law and then not have the fines match the crime. If the fines don’t cost a lot, then there won’t be very much incentive for someone to purchase insurance. And it won’t only be police officers checking the insurance database. The Revenue Department will also be conducting random searches to find drivers who have dropped their insurance. As of right now, it’s not quite sure what the next step will be for the Revenue Department once they find someone who has dropped their insurance but pinpointing the offenders is an important first step.

Insurance Must be Proven at Registration

When drivers go to get their car re-registered, they will have to make sure that all of their information matches for the insurance to be correctly stored in the data system but officials don’t foresee this causing too much trouble. Right now, they are optimistic that effort will help get uninsured motorists off the road. But what can you do in the meantime? Because no matter how many laws are made and often you charge someone with a ticket, it is likely there are still going to be some people that choose to drive without insurance. The number one thing you can do is to make sure that you are properly covered with your personal policy.

Liability Insurance

As we’ve already figured out, all states require that you maintain a minimum amount of coverage and this is called liability. Liability insurance is going to pay for any kind of damage you cause to others so if you get hit by someone without insurance, liability is not going to help pay for the damages to your car. Keep in mind that while liability is the law, more often than not, it won’t be able to cover for the majority of the damage that happens to your car, even if it seems minor. When you are looking into your insurance policy, up your liability coverage and also ask your insurance agent about adding uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage. This could be the one thing that saves you the most money if you find yourself in an unexpected situation.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Alabama’s 13 reported on one of its citizens, Matt Francisco, who was hit by uninsured three separate times. “One was out on Highway 280, one was at a coffee shop in Atlanta, and the other was at a bank.” Unfortunately for Matt, all three accidents were a hit and run and it’s a reality that’s not too uncommon. You might come out of the grocery store to find a ding in your bumper or maybe a few days later, you notice a gash in your passenger side door. When things like this occur, it also falls into the category of no-insurance accidents because it is highly unlikely you will ever find the person that hit your car.

So, your insurance company just treats it as that person never actually had insurance and will pay for your damages. This is a plus for those that add uninsured/underinsured coverage to their policies and it’s not that expensive but in this economy, some people feel that by skipping out on auto insurance, they are saving valuable money. This is bad for the insurance industry as a whole though because it raises premiums for everyone since insurance companies have to pay out settlements instead of the person at fault.

Looking Forward for Alabama

Hopefully, Alabama’s new laws can start cracking down on uninsured motorist and make sure that the roadways a little bit safer. In the meantime, don’t rely on someone else doing the responsible thing. You should speak with your individual agent about how much it would cost to add an uninsured/underinsured motorist policy to your insurance plan. You might be surprised at much money you could save.