Uninsured drivers (are a pain in the wallet.....) :(

[GMac]

Over here in the UK, 5% of all motorists are now driving on public roads with no insurance cover of any kind in place :x The spiralling cost of cover, allied with pathetically low fines for driving without insurance (around £100, compared to £300+ for fully comprehensive cover) means more and more of these idiots are populating UK roads. They also tend to be much more likely to commit other driving offences (dangerous driving, DWI, speeding etc) and cause more accidents than the law abiding majority (of which I'm one) - many of them are the 'boy-racer' types that most insurers won't touch. They cost the UK insurance industry nearly £500,000,000 a year, with the avarage motorist having to pay a £30 surcharge on their premiums to cover this. Now I've always been in favour of much tougher penalties for these jerks (like £1000 minimum fines for driving without insurance, driving bans and jail for repeat offenders), but now I'm learning just how much of a pain they can be, after my own car (parked down a side street next to my home - something I've done without a problem for nearly 20 years) was on the receiving end of a hit & run by one of these clowns (the perp hadn't even got a valid drivers license, let alone insurance or road tax :nono: ) The local cops caught him shortly afterwards trying to dump the vehicle (a £50 special) and arrested him, but with no valid insurance, I have to claim on my policy (even though I wasn't even in the car at the time) - that means a £200 excess to pay on the policy and a reduced no-claim discount (say another £150) until such time the jerk is convicted and my insurers can sue him for their (and my) costs - odds are he'll plead poverty and I won't see my money for years :blue: I'm also without wheels until a temporary replacement can be hired,and my motor (which is quite old) may be written off as not cost effective to repair
So, is this a problem anywhere else?, and if not, how is the system regulated to keep such morons off the streets & roads? (our government is finally cracking down on such vermin, but it's too late to help me.....)

GM

 

[jtr1962]

The problem exists here as well. I'd say in NYC at least 50% of drivers are uninsured, and probably nearly as many are unlicensed. It's so bad that at one place I worked another friend of mine drove company vehicles. She didn't even have a driver's license although she did drive decently. I was even asked to drive once but refused on principal. Insurance here just costs too much ($5000 annually and up) when you have a bad driving record, or are just starting to drive, so many go without it.

In 1988 I was in the back seat of another friend's car (he did have a license) when we were rear-ended by an uninsured driver. I ended up needing stitches on my head and missed two weeks of work. My friend's no fault paid for my medical expenses, and I was referred to a lawyer to take care of the rest of it. I think the lawyer had to sue my friend's insurance company to try to recover damages. The long and short of it is that I needed to be under some sort of "continuous treatment" just to make things look good. This involved visits to a chiropractor which did nothing but waste my time. They put something with a wet sponge and mild electrical current on my back. Since I felt it was doing more harm than good I stopped going. The lawyer was pissed that I wouldn't play his stupid game but I couldn't afford to miss any more work, nor undergo "cures" for a nonexistent condition. My head wound healed within two weeks and I went back to work. All that was left was to try to recover lost wages since there was no point to the damage portion of the lawsuit any more. Even this was a futile gesture. I needed to send the lawyer a form stating my wages and the number of days work I missed. I did this three times. The lawyer's idiot secretary either misplaced or lost the forms. The fourth time and succeding times I got a letters from him regarding the form I simply filed them in the garbage. I think he called me once to ask why I didn't send the form in and I explained I was tired of sending him the same form only to have him misplace it and ask me to resend it. So much for any compensation for lost wages. I'm not sure if things would have went any better if the driver who hit us had insurance. Needless to say, suing him pesonally was out of the question-the usual cries of poverty.

I sympathize with your plight but I'm personally against mandatory auto insurance. All it's done is to drive up the cost of repairs and accidents. I feel if people legally had to pay out of pocket if they caused a accident they might drive a little more carefully. We also wouldn't have lawyers filing frivolous lawsuits for pain and suffering as in the case of my accident. While it's only fair to compensate a victim for vehicle damages, lost wages, and hospital bills, it ends there. If people paid out of pocket, even those things would cost less. I'm constantly annoyed when I hear of vehicles in 10 mph accidents which need $3000 in repairs. These vehicles can and should be made much stronger. It's all part of a way to make lawyers, repair shops, and hospitals rich on the backs of the poor slob who has to pay for mandatory insurance. My parents pay over $1600 annually to insure two vehicles (1979 and 1990) which combined are worth less than the premiums. It's asinine, and one big reason I wouldn't consider driving (ongoing expenses for fuel is the other big reason).

As for penalties, while I'm against mandatory insurance I am very annoyed at the sheer number of people who have had their licenses taken away yet continue to drive anyway. I'm all in favor of forfeiting the vehicle for the first and subsequent offenses of driving with no license. Few can afford to continually replace their vehicle, so the problem would end very quickly, especially if law enforcement did random road blocks to check licenses.

 

[Howell]

TN: 25K/50K/10K required minimum coverage
A conviction for failure to provide evidence of financial responsibility will be a Class C misdemeanor punishable only by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00). Also, once the State is notified of a conviction, the State will suspend the violator's drivers license.

GA: 25/50/25 required minimum coverage
Driving without liability coverage is a misdemeanor and punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

http://www.iii.org/individuals/auto/a/stateautolaws/

 

[Pradeep]

In Australia your annual registration fee includes a mandatory third-party personal cover. So if you do happen to injure someone in a crash, you don't have to pay anything (at least for medical, third-party property is still your responsibility). Of course that doesn't help if someone is driving an unregistered car, but mostly it's people driving with suspended licenses etc. It's still a mere fraction of the cost of auto insurance here in the US. Of course no other country has 3 lawyers per 100 of population either.

It's amazing to me that with all the electronic data sharing between insurance companies and the DMV, that millions still get away without paying insurance.

 

[miksmi]

GMac, sorry to hear about the loss of your ride and its associated hassles.

They put something with a wet sponge and mild electrical current on my back.

This sounds like a TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) unit.

After a mulitple trauma bicycle accident, I developed upper back pain. The doctor said muscles contract as a defense mechanism and caused the pain. I used a TENS unit in the hospital and for several months during rehabilitation to relax the muscles. Under those circumstances, the TENS unit helped relieve back pain.

 

[Howell]

Yeah, I've had the electrical stimulation many times for physical therapy after muscle injuries.

GMac, that must have been a doozy of a hit-and-run to total the car. Sorry to hear about that.

 

[Buck]

Sad story GMac, I'm sorry to read that your car was totaled.