Monday, 12 September 2011
Too Many American Drivers Are Uninsured
Even though every state in America, other than New Hampshire, requires drivers to possess automobile insurance, it’s estimated that about one out of every seven drivers in the country is driving around without any coverage. According to an article by USA Today, a leading insurance industry organization estimates that 13.8 per cent of American drivers don’t have the necessary insurance in place. The number has increased since the nation has been faced with its recent economic woes as many people simply aren’t renewing their policies.
David Corum, who is the Insurance Research Council’s vice president, said that the number of uninsured drivers has been closely related to the number of unemployed people in the country during the past 20 years. He added that insured drivers are paying a huge price for those who don’t have any insurance and that the figure supplied by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for 2007 was close to $11 billion. Corum said most insured drivers purchase policies that cover them in case they’re injured in a collision with a non-insured driver.
Loretta Worters, who is the Insurance Information Institute’s vice president, said that the current laws seem to be ineffective when it comes to forcing people to purchase auto insurance. She said that some people just can’t afford the insurance and others don’t want to pay the surcharges for having bad driving records. She added that things are unlikely to change because the odds of getting caught driving without the proper coverage are generally pretty low and the penalties for those who are caught aren’t nearly severe enough.
According to the Insurance Research Council, Massachusetts has the lowest rate of uninsured drivers at just four per cent, while Mississippi has a nationwide high of 28 per cent. Drivers have to prove that they have insurance before they can register an automobile in Massachusetts. This seems to be a simple way to solve the problem, but for some reason it’s not being followed in about half of the other states.
In Mississippi, police don’t have any way of determining if a driver has auto insurance and no proof of it is required by the state. However, it’s simple enough to rectify if the legislature had enough courage to do so.
