Posted on 07/27/2024 11:43:17 AM PDT by karpov
More Americans are driving without car insurance, and it’s making coverage more expensive for everyone else.
The problem has been growing since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Insurance Research Council, whose latest data show the percentage of uninsured drivers rose to 14% in 2022, from about 11% in 2019. The IRC, which calculates the data based on the relative frequencies of auto-insurance claims, expects the numbers have continued to climb since then.
Washington, D.C., New Mexico and Mississippi are among the jurisdictions with the highest share of uninsured motorists, the IRC says. Washington has recorded almost 19,000 uninsured vehicles since 2021, according to a spokesperson at the district’s department of motor vehicles. In Ohio—ranked 10th on the list—the number of noncompliance suspensions increased 16% between 2020 and 2023, according to the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Such infractions occur when a driver fails to show proof of insurance at a traffic stop or after an accident.
J.D. Power, which bases its research on consumer surveys, sees a similar trend and says the percentage of uninsured drivers increased in the first half of this year.
When more cash-strapped consumers drop their coverage, it reduces the premium pool, which causes many insurers to raise the prices of their policies. The average annual cost of full-coverage car insurance has jumped to $2,278, up 12% from 2023, according to Bankrate.
Although many of the drivers dropping coverage say they are also battling rising costs for groceries, housing and healthcare, others are rolling the dice and betting they won’t need it.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
The author does not mention uninsured illegal alien drivers, but many commenters at the WSJ site do.
They get off scot free. Different laws for different cultures.
FIFY, WSJ
Well yeah - you can’t get register your car without proof of insurance so the license plates become invalid but blue cities have gone out of their way to NOT enforce traffic laws so uninsured motorists have every financial reason to NOT get insurance!
At my apartment complex they just stickered a fair number of cars for having expired plates and threatened to tow them as abandoned.
> At my apartment complex they just stickered a fair number of cars for having expired plates and threatened to tow them as abandoned.
That only happens in middle class areas i.e. the people that can pay. I remember renting an apartment in Elk Grove, IL. About once a year the police would set up barricades and check the registration and insurance of every person living there.
Here in PA, your license plate, registration, DL and insurance had better be in good order, not to mention your blood alcohol level.
When you renew the registration you have to provide the insurance info.
And when you get the car inspected (once a year), you don’t get a sticker if you don’t have a valid registration and insurance.
Without a sticker it’s just a matter of time before you’re pulled over. (As long as it’s nice weather for pulling someone over.)
In many ways PA is a police state. However, guns are as commonplace as flashlights and hammers; and our taxes are very low (so is the crime rate).
The insurance companies rule the country.
yes.. you can..
I sell used cars, it is “required” when you purchase a car. I have watched people just “make up” insurance information and the states computer accepts it.
When I asked the DMV about it they said “oh we just collect that information, we don’t verify it”
seems stupid, MN has spent over 100 million dollars on DMV software in the past 10 years. They should be able to verify an active policy and what is covered instantly.
Sure hope we’re not about to see an “Affordable Driving Act”. Get ready to pay for foreign nationals’ insurance, and who knows, maybe even auto repairs.
Insurance?
We don’t need no insurance!
We don’t need no stinking insurance!
Liars. It is illegals driving without insurance. Those that pay for car insurance have higher rates because of it. If they hit you, you pay.
If you live in an area where many people are uninsured, you will be quoted higher rates.
ILLEGALS!
Illegals don’t buy car insurance. That’s what people who lived in Florida in the 1980’s discovered.
Citizens in Florida had this problem after the The Mariel boatlift (a Castro assisted massive immigration/dumping of Cuban prisoners, mental patients, and common criminals into Florida).
Legal citizens had to buy ‘uninsured motorist insurance’. Not only did these people drive without insurance, they drove without a license. And bought cheap clunkers that weren’t road worthy then didn’t maintain them.
If you’re in a car accident with one of these people and have long term injuries, you’re out of luck unless you have ‘uninsured motorists insurance’. It got so bad Florida had to pass a law saying Insurance companies had to tell people that type of insurance was available. It’s a cheap add on and to this day I buy it every year.
Meaning the invading army.
Part of Wealth redistribution strategy
Lots of City dwellers have never had car insurance in their lives.
Have these drivers sell a kidney or lung to pay for the damage caused by their accident.
I not only have “uninsured motorist insurance”, I have $250k/$500k insurance benefit for myself and any of my passengers in case we get hit and hurt. Why? Uninsured/underinsured drivers.
Several years ago I proposed legislation to my state senator. I called it the “I don’t care about your personal problems auto insurance reform bill.”
Among other things it included an automatic five year prison sentence for driving without insurance.
It also limited payouts of the state program for catastrophic injuries to $250,000. ( currently unlimited)
It eliminated helmet and seatbelt laws but also included zero insurance coverage for injuries sustained without those safety items.
Needless to say, it was never introduced.
I drove my car for 11 months without the correct year sticker. Finally got pulled over.
It’s a company car. Fleet agency had registration right but never sent the decals and I didn’t notice.
LOL
Bring back putting people on stocks on public display. Chain gangs, and automatic forfieture of any vehicle they are driving. If you are driving with insurance but don’t have proof with you, . The vehicle stays locked up until you get to court. Plus storage fees.
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