Hundreds of thousands of motorists without coverage could be identified.
A new system in Alabama has been designed to catch approximately 900,000 motorists in the state who do not have auto insurance.
This system was created to help to make sure that drivers are abiding by the state’s coverage laws.
The program should go into effect as of January 1, 2012. This will be the start of a statewide crackdown effort to help to stop the comm
on occurrence of traffic accidents in which one or all involved parties are not covered by auto insurance. The system takes only a few seconds in order to check a vehicle for the adequate minimum coverage required by Alabama law.
The auto insurance checks will be conducted by county license plate offices.
Whenever car tags are issued or renewed for motorists, the staff at the county license plate offices will begin performing a check to make sure that the driver has auto insurance. Furthermore, whenever traffic offenses occur, police will perform the checks when they have stopped the cars.
Moreover, the state Revenue Department will also be performing checks over the computer at random, in order to identify the motorists who have dropped their coverage. At that point, they will then contact the drivers, who will then be required to provide proof of their auto insurance or they will risk a suspension of their vehicle registration until the policy is replaced.
There is a first offense fine of up to $500 for a driver who uses an uninsured vehicle. A subsequent offense can risk a fine of up to $1,000. This can also cause the driver to have the vehicle registration suspended, with a $200 price tag on the reinstatement the first time and a $400 reinstatement cost for subsequent offenses.
In 2000, the Legislature in Alabama passed a law that required all drivers to carry a liability auto insurance policy. However, according to data from the Insurance Research Council, an estimated 22 percent of the over 4 million vehicles within the state are not covered, or are not adequately covered to comply with the law’s requirements. This is the sixth highest rate drivers without auto insurance among all of the states.
