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MANDATORY INSURANCE:
DRIVE ON THE RIGHT SIDE
OF THE LAW
By SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE H. RYAN
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Deadbeats who continue to defy Illinois' Mandatory
Insurance Law after being caught driving without insurance are being targeted in a new, get-tough enforcement program in the Secretary of State's office
called "Drive on the Right Side of the Law." The crackdown greatly increases the likelihood of catching and
punishing repeat offenders through the state's mail-in
enforcement effort.
Under the mailing program, questionnaires are sent
to vehicle owners about their insurance coverage and
must be returned to this office within 30 days. The
office then runs cross-checks with insurance companies
to verify the information.
About 84 percent of all verification notices now are
being mailed to past violators, compared with about 25
percent last year. Questionnaires eventually will be sent
to all past violators, including approximately 200,000
motorists who have received court supervision since the
law first took effect.
Court supervision may be given to a vehicle owner
or operator who pleads guilty to violating the mandatory insurance law. Once the court supervision is received and processed in this office, the license plate
registration is placed into a random, sample pool of
persons eligible to receive questionnaires. However,
once caught, uninsured motorists always will be
checked.
The shift in the focus of enforcement was among
changes I sought in winning re-enactment of the law,
which went into effect January 1, 1990, on a four-year
trial basis.
Mandatory insurance has been a successful consumer protection effort mainly because the vast majority of Illinois motorists have complied with the law. Our
enforcement efforts now must turn to those deadbeat
drivers who want responsible motorists to pick up the
tab if they are involved in a crash.
Previous violators are about three times as likely as
other motorists either to drop insurance or drive without it. In recent years, my office found that about 26
percent of the previous violators receiving a notice had
no insurance, compared with about 8 percent of all
drivers.
The enforcement-by-mail program serves as a
backup to the continuing requirement that drivers carry
insurance ID cards in their vehicles at all times. Those
motorists can be ticketed by police if they fail to provide proof of insurance,
The law requires all Illinois vehicle owners to carry
liability insurance at minimum limits of $20,000 for the
injury or death of one person; $40,000 for the injury or
death of more than one person; and $15,000 for property damage. It has received widespread support from
law enforcement agencies, our state's court system and
the insurance industry.
Under the re-enacted law, vehicle owners who fail
to carry minimum liability insurance face a mandatory
fine of $500 to $1,000, an immediate license plate suspension and a $100 fee to reinstate their plates. Paying
the reinstatement fee ends the plate suspension for first-time offenders as soon as they obtain insurance and pay
all fines and fees. Repeat offenders still face a four-month plate suspension.
Illinois' mandatory insurance law has delivered new
protection for millions of consumers. We succeeded in
getting about one million additional motorists to obtain
insurance coverage and, as a result, have seen far fewer
crashes involving uninsured motorists.
The number of reported collisions involving uninsured vehicles fell from 70,284 in 1990 to 51,150 in 1992.
Other changes in the law include doubling the license plate reinstatement fee for first-time offenders
from $50 to $100 and streamlining the processing of
mandatory insurance cases through the courts. A chief
circuit judge now can designate a court officer to determine whether a vehicle was properly insured during
an arrest, thus eliminating unnecessary court hearings.
Targeting deadbeats who refuse to obtain insurance, increasing the reinstatement fee for first-time offenders and sending questionnaires to everyone caught
driving without insurance should encourage all Illinois
vehicle owners to comply with the law. Mandatory
insurance is permanent; Drive on the Right Side of the
Law.
February 1994 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 11
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