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Texas Says
"No More Free Ride"

AUSTIN - State officials issued a stern warning on June 3 to millions of Texas motorists: "If you're driving without car insurance, your free ride is coming to an end."

Representatives from the Texas Department of Insurance, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) were on hand to unveil TexasSure, the state's new program to identify vehicles without liability insurance. The goal is to reduce the number of uninsured vehicles in Texas, currently estimated at approximately four million.

At the Heart of Things

At its heart, TexasSure is a secure database that matches the records of registered passenger vehicles in Texas to personal auto insurance policy data submitted by 200-plus Texas insurance companies.

With such information at their fingertips, law enforcement officers and county tax officials hope to be able to instantly verify whether a vehicle has auto liability coverage as required by state law.

An Agency Quadrille
The four collaborating state agencies see the upcoming launch of the new database as a wake-up call for Texas' uninsured motorists: if you're not covered, you'll be discovered.

"Many different stakeholders helped to develop the technology needed to make this work. I commend DPS, TxDOT, DIR, and those in the insurance industry for putting together this one-of-a-kind solution," said Texas Insurance Commisioner Mike Geeslin. "Any tool that helps us reduce the number of uninsured vehicles is good for law-abiding Texans with coverage."

For Many, Doing Nothing's the Right Thing

Driver's with auto insurance don't need to do anything other than continue to carry their proof of insurance card, as required by law. Texas insurance companies send policy information each week to the TexasSure vendor, and it is matched to TxDOT's
vehicle registration records.

Ending Russian Roulette
"For too long, having a collision in Texas has been like playing a game of Russian roulette, where you never know whether the at-fault driver is carrying the required insurance," said DPS Highway Patrol Lt. Louis Sanchez. "Because of TexasSure, we believe drivers will now be far more likely to get and keep a liability policy when they realize we have a way to identify phony proof-of-insurance cards and catch those who cancel their policy as soon as they get their cars registered or inspected."

25-50-25 or $350 + Costs 
Texas law requires minimum liability coverage of $25,000 per injured person, up to a total of $50,000 for everyone injured in an accident and $25,000 for property damage. Liability coverage pays other people's expenses in accidents caused by the insured driver.

Driving without liability insurance can result in a fine of up to $350 and possibly hundreds of dollars more in court costs and additional fees.

Repeat offenders also are subject to a two year driver license suspension.

Finally Up & Running (soon)
The new database verification program will be fully implemented statewide later this year. TxDOT and county tax officials have begun using the database in local county tax offices for vehicle registration. DPS is currently field testing the program in the Austin area.

More than 30 other states have some type of auto insurance verification program in place. Each has seen a reduction in the number of uninsured vehicles on the road.

[Ed. Note: O.K. the Powers-That-Be should have said "financial responsibility" rather than "insurance," but too much detail might have muddied the Message. K.I.S.S. sometimes demands a certain degree of "dumbing-down" to preserve clarity (or so the thinking goes) - G.E.H.]

Source: The Insurance Record June 19, 2008