OAIN: With Bill Passage, LA. Reps Want Safer Roads, Cheaper Car Insurance

    RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA, April 27, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A full day for Louisiana legislators in the state House yesterday included passage of two insurance-related bills by wide margins, including one instituting harsher penalties for drivers unable to prove they have proper coverage, which a representative said would make roads safer while bringing down costs, reports Online Auto Insurance News.

Rep. Ray Garofalo (R-Meaux) proposed HB 1053, which would allow police to tow cars of first-time violators who cannot show evidence of coverage when driving and amends current law that allows police to tow cars only on a second or subsequent violation.

Also, representatives unanimously passed HB 1130, which legalizes electronic images displayed on mobile phones as a form of proof showing that a required policy is in place. Most top rated auto insurance companies offer policyholders proof on electronic formats that can be displayed on smartphones, but customers would also be able to take a photo of their policy to show to authorities during traffic stops.

Garofalo told fellow representatives yesterday that HB 1053 "puts the teeth back" into state law requiring all drivers to have coverage and evidence of coverage with them when on the road. The bill's primary goal, he said, is to "help to make the road safer," but added that it will "bring down the cost of insurance in the state."

Louisiana is the third most expensive out of all states in the U.S. for car coverage, according to 2009 estimates from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

From July 2011 to March 2012, 17,030 citations were written by authorities in the state for drivers unable to show evidence of financial responsibility, according to Garofalo, who added that 16,321 of those citations were for cars eventually found to be uninsured. "A full 26 percent" of cars on the road in Louisiana lack the coverage required by law, he said.

The bill is backed by Louisiana State Police and state regulators.

Although some drivers who have a proper policy but merely misplace their proof of it might inadvertently fall victim to the harsher penalties instituted by HB 1053, Garafalo said the bill's negative impact on such drivers is minimized by HB 1130, which allows widely used electronic options of proving a proper policy is in place.

State police troopers regularly pass up the chance to cite drivers for not being able to prove coverage, even in instances where they only have invalid forms of proof, said Garafalo, who recounted an anecdote to fellow representatives about one of his own traffic stops.

"I had several of the older cards, and when I showed those to the trooper who stopped me, he said I realize that you have insurance and he did not cite me," he said. "[I]t's not a written exception, but I've been assured by the state police that they do that on a routine basis."

HB 1053 was passed by an 82-7 vote. Both bills are currently in the state Senate for further consideration.

Source: http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Journals/H_Journals_All/2012_RSJournals/12RS%20-%20HJ%200425%2028.PDF

For more on this and related issues, head to www.onlineautoinsurance.com/companies/ratings/ for access to an easy-to-use quote-comparison generator and informative resource pages.

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