Thread: TX: Insurance checks

(AP) A new system meant to crack down on uninsured drivers in Central Texas isn’t ready for its Jan. 1 launch date.

The Department of Public Safety was supposed to roll out the pilot program that would allow troopers to quickly check the validity of insurance cards at the start of the new year. Now they say the program needs more testing.

Currently, when a driver is pulled over, police or DPS troopers ask to see a proof of insurance, but they admit there is no way for them to tell if the insurance is legitimate.

“Right now, there is no way of checking that it is or is not a valid policy without making a call to the agency itself,â€

State to test program to stop uninsured drivers

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 03cab.html

08:12 AM CST on Monday, December 10, 2007
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
tstutz@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN – Uninsured motorists will soon have a good reason to look over their shoulders when driving on Texas roads.

Beginning next month, the state will launch its long-delayed program to nab the estimated one in five Texas motorists who are violating the law by driving without insurance.

The insurance verification program will begin in Austin for two months and, if successful, will be expanded to Dallas and the rest of the state.

"Texas must continue to be relentless in getting an efficient system in place that penalizes and discourages people from not complying with the law," said state Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, who wrote the law that established the program while a member of the Senate in 2005.

Mr. Staples said the majority of drivers – who follow the law and have insurance – are being forced to pay larger premiums to subsidize those without insurance. The insurance industry estimates that Texas drivers shell out nearly $1 billion a year to protect themselves against those without coverage.

"We can't get this law in place soon enough," he added.

The program, funded with a $1 fee paid by Texans when renewing their vehicle registration each year, allows police officers, state troopers, vehicle inspection stations and others to instantly verify whether a motorist has the minimum insurance coverage required under state law. The verification will come through a central database set up with information provided by insurers.

About 20 to 25 percent of drivers – as many as 4 million Texans – are uninsured, according to state officials and the insurance industry. The state has roughly 16 million drivers.

Tom Vinger, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said officials wanted to test the program in one city for a couple of months to demonstrate that it will operate as intended.

"This is a huge undertaking, and we want the public to have confidence in the system," Mr. Vinger said. "The only way to do that is to have some field testing."

Although Texas has had a financial responsibility law requiring drivers to buy insurance for several years, enforcement has been difficult even though proof of insurance must be furnished to get a license renewal or safety inspection. The minimum policy must contain liability coverage to pay for injuries and damage caused by the driver.


Counterfeit cards

Millions of motorists skirt the law by using counterfeit proof-of-insurance cards or by obtaining a month's coverage of insurance to get an ID card, only to cancel the policy once they get their licenses renewed or their vehicles inspected.

To combat the problem locally, a growing number of cities, including several in North Texas, have started local programs to penalize uninsured drivers by towing their cars. Among those cities are Arlington, Dallas, DeSoto, Garland, Irving and Mesquite.

Under the state program, a driver pulled over for a traffic violation or involved in an accident will still be asked to produce proof of insurance. But the officer will also run the license plate of the vehicle through the insurance database to determine whether the driver really has insurance.

"We will check every person who is pulled over," Mr. Vinger noted.

A ticket will be issued to violators, subjecting them to a fine of $175 to $350 on the first offense. The fines jump on the second and third offenses – $350 to $1,000 – and the third offense can result in suspension of the driver's license and impoundment of the vehicle. Those who ignore the fines are subject to arrest.

Drivers caught without insurance also are put in the Texas Driver Responsibility Program, requiring them to pay an additional $250 a year to the state for three years.

One of the other lead state agencies in the effort is the Texas Department of Insurance, which has been working with the industry on the insurance verification program to reduce the chances for errors.

"Our tests so far indicate that we are matching 98.5 percent of insurance policies to the correct registered vehicles," said Melissa Burkhart, program coordinator at the insurance department. That is better than the original accuracy target.

"If everything goes as well as we expect [in Austin], the program will be rolled out statewide a couple weeks later," she added.

HDI Solutions Inc., an Alabama-based firm that specializes in data management, was awarded a contract from the state about a year ago to set up the verification program. The company, which will partner with three other high-tech firms, will be paid $7 million over two years. HDI operates a similar program in Alabama.

Although the insurance checks will initially occur at traffic stops, they will be quickly expanded to annual vehicle registrations and, by next summer, to vehicle inspections. Some county tax collectors, who issue vehicle registration stickers, could be using the system as early as February.


Warnings

In addition, the state will contact drivers without insurance by mail, warning them of the consequences for not having insurance.

"All the pieces should be in place by the summer," Ms. Burkhart said.

Although the insurance verification law was passed in 2005, the program has been delayed as state officials and the insurance industry sought to make sure that mistakes would be minimal.

"The program has taken longer to get off the ground than had been anticipated, but if the initial pilot program proves to be accurate and can be implemented successfully statewide, the wait will have been worth it," said Mark Hanna of the Insurance Council of Texas, an industry group.

"The bottom line is Texans are tired of paying for the accidents and injuries caused by uninsured drivers."

Jerry Johns of Southwestern Insurance Information Service said the industry was skeptical about the effort because of problems with programs in other states – including erroneous ticketing of people who had insurance.

"But it is now the law, and we will work closely with TDI [the insurance department] and the vendor to make sure the program complies with the intent of the Legislature," he said.

A study conducted for the insurance and public safety departments indicated that in the 27 states that use similar insurance verification systems, the average percentage of uninsured motorists before the program was about 26 percent. After it was implemented, the number dropped to less than 10 percent.

"Based on these numbers and the estimated uninsured motorist rate in Texas of 20 percent, it is possible that there could be a 12 to 13-point reduction in the uninsured motorist rate in Texas," the study said.

INSURANCE VERIFICATION: HOW IT WORKS
Uninsured drivers will be identified through a state database that will include information from insurance companies on all drivers who have policies on their vehicles. Drivers will be checked when they:

•Are stopped for a traffic violation by a law enforcement officer, who can run their license plate number though the database.

•Are involved in an accident.

•Obtain an annual vehicle inspection.

•Submit payment for a new vehicle registration sticker.

Also, the state plans to mail out warnings to drivers who are found to have no minimum liability insurance. Current minimum coverage limits are:

•$25,000 for injury or death of one person in an accident.

•$50,000 for injury or death of two or more persons.

•$25,000 for damage or destruction of property.

Want to bet that more 'mistakes' will be made so that innocent Americans will get tickets than illegals?

If they can make 'mistakes' for Americans and get the Americans angry enough, the citizens will call a halt to the program.

It could not, simply could not be that hard to check on these licenses.

Illegals will just use another of their fake ID's and keep driving. Americans will get screwed as always.

A provision of their charter to do business in Texas should be some simple way to make it possible for the police to check to see of a policy number is actually in force and if the names and vehicles match.

I don't think it would be that difficult.

I don't think it is difficult to check out one's SS number to see if it is valid, either.

Texas, as in our state government and many of the locals, do not want any thing to work in this state that would deter illegal immigration. Anything they do will be 'complex' - as in probably ineffective.

Glad to hear this is comming!! Many times when stopping at local Kinko's, I've found insurance cards people have left in the copiers and white-out on the expiration dates. (I actually gave one a while back to an HPD officer) I'd be willing to bet they were trying to beat the system and drive without insurance.

This can't come soon enough. Texas is turning into a sespool just like California.