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What Motivates So Many People to Drive Uninsured?
Jeff Ryan - CLU, ChFC, AIA, CIC, CPCU
Nov 02, 2022
It Is Not a Risk You Should Be Willing to Take
After over 25 years as a licensed insurance agent, I think the reasons for a person driving uninsured falls into a couple of categories:
- Sticking it to the man:
- Many people who are averse to the government telling them what they must buy. Enough said?
- Poor financial management:
- It is incredible to me the number of people who do not open their mail. Or, those who do not have a method for managing and paying their bills.
- More pressing financial priorities (The majority of uninsured may fall into this category)
- When the decision to pay for car insurance versus those things that carry more importance, perceived urgency, or consequence (food, heat, debt, drugs) gets paid first.
Number three (3) may be the most significant reason so many drivers become uninsured in the US.
The Insurance Information Institute website charts that the highest percentage of uninsured motorists are in Florida and Mississippi. The lowest number of uninsured motorists are in Maine and New York [1].
As a resident and insurance agent in New York, I can speak to the significant consequences one faces if your car is left uninsured.
Here’s what an uninsured driver has to deal with in New York if they let their car insurance lapse:
- [2] Civil Penalties of $8 to $12 per day for each day insurance is not in effect on the vehicle.
- Suspension of vehicle registration.
- Suspension of driver’s license.
- Inability to sell or transfer the title for the car.
An insurance lapse in New York comes with stiff fines, penalties, and consequences.
I know of many instances where people’s cars have been towed straight away from the side of the road after a citation by police when found they do not have proper insurance. Recovery of their impounded vehicle requires all fines and penalties be satisfied.
It doesn’t take long for citizens to learn that paying your auto insurance premium is not something you want to mess with. As a result, New York has some of the highest auto insurance compliance in the United States.
My guess is that uninsured drivers in Florida, Mississippi, New Mexico, Michigan, and Tennessee do not face the same kind of potential consequences.
This article may have been originally published at Quora.com.
To see Jeff's Quora.com profile click here.
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