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From: megjpm@mb2c.UUCP (John Macks)
Newsgroups: net.legal,net.auto
Subject: Re: Uninsured motorism
Message-ID: <239@mb2c.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 13-Aug-85 22:00:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: mb2c.239
Posted: Tue Aug 13 22:00:16 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 00:36:27 EDT
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Organization: Michigan Bell, Southfield, MI
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Xref: linus net.legal:1718 net.auto:6646

> > > What if you or I were hit by an uninsured driver?
> > > We could tally huge medical bills with no means
> > > to pay for them. I think you can never confiscate
> > > someone's automobile liability insurance because
> > > others will often suffer the most.
> > 
> > Which brings up an important point.  This can happen to you
> > NOW!  My attorney has handled many cases where
> > innocent people were severely injured by uninsured drivers
> > and were unable to collect. ...
> 
> Which suggests that, in jurisdictions where motorists are allowed
> not to have insurance (that's most of them in North America, isn't it?),
> insurance companies should sell policies that protect you not only
> against your own liability but also against that of the uninsured
> driver who runs into you.
> 
> In other words, suppose I collide with J, and J is at fault,
> and I suffer serious injuries; then J's insurance might have to pay
> me, say, $250,000.  But if J is uninsured, J merely owes me
> that money, and since he can only pay $5,000, I'm out $245,000
> (minus what my particular government chips in), and J declares
> bankruptcy or something.
> 
> Under my proposal, my own insurance, although primarily for the
> purpose of paying J if I had been at fault, would pay me the $250,000
> in this case.  J gets the same treatment as before, because he still
> owes $250,000 -- only now he owes it to my insurer, not me.  So there
> my proposal does not confer any benefit to J, but does to me -- at a
> cost of a slightly higher premium.  I say slightly higher because most
> drivers *are* insured, so the risk of this is small.
> 
> I favor mandatory liability insurance for drivers, but this seems to
> be a workable alternative.  I've never heard of such policies actually
> existing anywhere.  Do they?
> 
> Mark Brader

In Michigan, all car owners are required by law to maintain liability coverage.
In order to get your annual license plate tabs, you must provide proof of 
insurance.  I believe auto insurance is mandatory in many other states.  This
does not eliminate the problem of uninsured motorists, since they can still 
obtain proof of insurance by paying the first installment on the policy at
the time of license plate renewal, and then simply not pay the remaining 
insurance payments and thereby let the policy lapse.  Thus, insurers still
offer uninsured motorist coverage in Michigan, at a very modest additional 
premium.